Vietnamization was a policy that established by President Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War. It was tailored to bring to an end the US involvement in the Vietnam War and therefore expand, train, as well as equip the Vietnam military forces so as to assign them with increasing combat responsibilities. The same gradually reduced the number of the United States combat troops. This investigation is aimed at examining the efficiency of the Nixon’s Vietnamization policy since the year 1969 towards the end of the year 1975. In a bid to evaluate this policy, this investigation will reconnoiter the core events that led to the policy to be valid during the Vietnam War so as to discern whether the war was carried out in concordance with the requisite effectiveness. The same will necessitate a detailed exploration of the objectives of the Vietnamization policy besides the political impact that the policy had in the United States.
Nixon’s final decisions, as well as the input of his advisors, will be sine qua non and will be taken into consideration as we examine the closing stages during the Vietnamization policy once it was effective so as to come to conclusion of this subject question. This is not an investigation that will take into consideration the causes or the reasons for the development of the Vietnam policy nor will it embark on investigations of the Americans positions in respect to the policy’s efficiency. The two core sources that are chosen for investigation includes “No Honor” by Larry Berman, “United States involvement in Vietnamese War” by Martin Gitlin as well as “No Peace” by Larry Berman. These will provide an analysis of the origin, the reason, values as well restrictions that beset during the reign of this policy.
The Evidence
The strategies established by President Johnston had caused a lot of havoc and this resulted to him refusing to participate in the 1968 elections. However, Richard Nixon had then been seen to be a very good candidate and focused according the American citizens. He was just focused on fixing the Americans and this was disguised by his inspiration speeches. Nevertheless, the main key issue that made him run for the elections was Vietnam. He had ambiguously promised to end the bloody War and win the peace. During this time of Richard’s inauguration, particularly in the year 1969, there were approximately 540,000 Americans who had been fighting in the Vietnamese War. These had been the newest and highly trained troop of soldiers who had gone to fight. Richard had then been working with the secretary of defense Melvin Laird and thereof established the so called Vietnamization policy as one of the plan to end the Vietnam War. However, he appeared to keep his promise so as to satisfy the infuriated troops and thereafter gain their credibility.
The Vietnamization was one of the schemes to de-Americanize. This would be conducted in a fashion that would make them win the war and thereof win the peace. These program objectives were to develop and westernize the South Vietnam military troops and then establish a strong leader for the South Vietnamese. They had planned to use the pacification methods where after they would shift the daily combat operations from the United States troops to the ARVN whilst the United States troops would withdraw gradually from the Vietnam.
In the year 1969, the troops gradually withdrew from Vietnam. This was accentuated by the fact that the national security advisor Henry Kissinger had then been very dedicated to negotiate peace with the communist who were of the belief that it was only the way in which they would end the war. However, the end of war was never considered important since the year 1969. In this case, the North Vietnamese ambushed the southern Vietnamese causing many casualties. This resulted to Richard allowing the heavy bombings around the Cambodia base camps as this is the place whereof North Vietnamese had kept their weapons amongst other war supplies. This was the first secret from the American people.
This was a main strategy that was tailored to keep the American s amongst other government officials calm. This was furthered by the fact that training the ARVN was very difficult. According to Le Duc tho, who was then a Vietnamese politician had presumed that Vietnamization would just be a way of prolonging the war since the south would never be strong enough for the United States to leave. Politicians in United States also alleged that Nixon’s Vietnamization was deemed to fail. Particularly, it was regarded to be a bandage in malignant cancer that was meant to disrupt the Vietnamese community. Besides that, it was objected to demoralize the American army and then weaken both the Americans at home and around the world. This was very well assumed on account that all the protests in United States were belittling the Vietnamese. On account of the bloody bombings, Richard Nixon decided that an early withdrawal of troops by big numbers would result to a bloody aftermath and loss of faith in United States Congress.
As the United States soldiers from the United States deescalated, the communist aggression intensified. To frustrate the efforts of the Vietnamization scheme was the priority of the Vietnam. During the month of April, Richard Nixon promulgated the attack of Cambodia. The Cambodian invasion destroyed the bases and frustrated the communists although the United States troops had been gradually withdrawn. The year 1969 to the end of 1971, the Cambodian war had detrimental effects in Vietnam as well as United States. The United States had held protests whilst the ARVN as well as the United States soldiers could not find any enemy. The white house had then been a disaster whereof there existed numerous political backlashes amidst demonstrations at its gates. The whole concept about Vietnamization was tested although the results had been not pleasant.
Examining the Sources
The ‘no peace no honor’ was a book authored by Larry Berman. He had been a professor in the University of California who is credited for having written some other two books that focuses on Vietnam on a detailed analysis. The sole purpose of the book NO PEACE NO HONOR is to elaborate on the era of Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War. It showcases the suggestion s about peace that had been fashioned by Nixon as well as Kissinger was nothing but a strategy towards favoring the Vietnam situation. It showcases the perceptions on the subject and thereof accentuates it by quotes that had been made during the Vietnam War from the major politicians both in United States as well as Vietnam. Its core values were that Larry Berman had been featured in numerous major documentaries in the major wars, which showcases his deep knowledge about the subject matter. This book has numerous quotes from both sides of the perspectives and elaborates in a deeper aspect on what was deliberated between the politicians in the Vietnam and United States. It brings to the light, its supported ideas in a bid to declare them valid. Nonetheless, its limitation is that it does not include the different aspects that occurred during the Vietnam War. It only focuses on the betrayal as well as the dishonesty that was made by Nixon and Kissinger to the American nationals.
The United States involvement in Vietnam was written by Martin Gitlin is a book that so much concentrates on the facts as well as the historical events that occurred during the Vietnam War. It further illustrates how the war shaped the political, societal as well as the technological field. Moreover, this author has won over 40 awards during the time when he was a newspaper reporter. His book is fashioned to give the factual information particularly on the core events during the Vietnam War and how it influenced the Vietnamese and the Americans. The intended audience for this master piece is for anyone who has embarked on study on wars and who is in need of getting versed with the basics of what occurred during the Vietnamese war. To back the information up, the book has illustrative photos.
The Analysis
Although the scheme that was being tested by the United States troops was gradually being withdrawn, some of the ideologists were of the opinion that the procedure implementation was very fast. On account of this the ARVN forces were not very well equipped and this made them suffer more casualties each time they were attacked by the Northern soldiers. This process was not just ambiguous but too fast to be implemented as it had not been earlier tested. It was an operation that was conceived in doubt as well as assailed by criticism.
The main goals of the Vietnamization were very unrealistic as it was very obvious that ARVN would be unable to defend their nation against their own. On the other hand, the South Vietnam had been very chaotic, a condition that had made them to be perceived as very weak. Moreover, the other goal was to establish strong leadership which had then been a dismal failure. Following the assassination of Diem, numerous leaders had attempted to take over but they proved to be very weak and worse compared to the leadership of Diem.
There was a staunch belief that Vietnamization was fashioned to bring advantageous changes although the democratic senator who had then ran for presidency avouched that Vietnamization policy was founded on the same strategies whereof they promised to be a dismal failure following the military efforts that had been seen in Vietnam.
Conclusion
Works Cited
Council Of Foreign Affairs. Vietnamization Can It Work? 17 June 2013. 15 May 2014. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/24176/robert-h-johnson/vietnamization-can-it-work>.
John, Lincoln M. The Effects Of Vietnmaziation On The Republic Of Vietnam Armed Forces. 11 June 2013. 15 May 2014. <http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/vietnam/vietnamization/>.
Larry, Berman and Kissinger. No Peace, No Honor. New York: ISBN, 2002.
Lobosky, P. "The Effectiveness Of Nixon's Vietnamization Policy." 6 0ctober 2013. The Effectiveness Of Nixon's Vietnamization Policy. 15 May 2014. <http://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/the-effectiveness-of-nixons-vietnamization-policy-history-essay.php>.
Martin, Gitlin. U.S Involvement In U.S. New York: ABDO,1616133376, 9781616133375, 2010.
National Security Agency. "Centre of Cryptological History." Journal Of History (1993): 12-23.
Prados, John. "Vietnam Veterans In America." 12 June 2012. 15 May 2014. <http://www.vva.org/veteran/1207/vietnamization.html>.
