How come the USA lost the war with Vietnam?

Question

Vietnam is one of the smallest nations on the planet it's size is 331.689 km² the size of California is 410.000 km² why did the Americans lost that war so badly?

Answer 1

We should not have been there in the first place.
Gulf of Tonkin of Johnson was like the WMD of Bush. Another invasion that was initiated by deceit.
The Vietnamese had a centuries old tradition of repelling foreign invaders and were determined nationalists willing to raise pitchforks to our B52s.
Every South Vietnamese government the U.S. installed were seen as U.S. puppets. While in governmental control, all of the puppet governments were exceedingly corrupt.
Vietnamese peasants did not want to see their daughters carted off to serve in brothels for American soldiers.
The international community did not support our invasion.
Fewer capable young Americans were willing to enlist once the draft was ended. When the draft was in place, it became apparent that being in the wrong race or class gave young men deep opposition to the draft being grossly unfair.
Like pointed out by many already, the Vietnamese were willing to sacrifice endlessly while we as an invading force were totally demoralized. Many Americans soldiers were spending more time getting high rather than going on patrol.
The air war as escalated by Nixon/Kissinger only gave the North Vietnamese more resolve and turned many in the South to support a united country. No one in Vietnam wanted their nation bombed to pieces with exfoliants.

Answer 2

Ho Chi Minh told the French you may kill ten of my men for every one that I kill of yours but in the end I will win and you will lose. The Americans were going up against that kind of enemy. Some here will tell you that the American fought a limited war which was done to keep the Chinese from entering the war like happened during the Korean War. The VC used a very effective guerrilla war technique that in the end was more effective than the modern American War machine. When you are fighting a guerrilla army much like the Iraqi army you need ten regular soldiers to equal one guerrilla soldier so if the enemy has 100,000 guerrilla fighters you need 1,000,000 just to be equal strength. During the Vietnam War North Vietnam had 250,000 deaths so imagine how many fighters they had and the disadvantage the US was at.

Answer 3

The reason is the same as the reason they are losing in Iraq. The Vietnam war was unpopular, and more importantly saw US forces faced with a combination of direct battle and guerilla tactics. The Vietnamese knew the territory, the people and could employ hit and run tactics and gradually wear down US forces and the support for the war. The same thing is happening in Iraq. The militants will gradually wear down the invaders and popularity for the war will fall as the body count rises.

Answer 4

One reason the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam was that China and Russia were supporting the N. Vietnamese militarily, politically and economically.
Then add the fact that the havens like Laos that were staging grounds for attacks on the S. Vietnamese territory were off-limits thanks to a great set of Democrats, Kennedy and Johnson and you have all the elements for a disaster.
Factor in that the war was also a civil war, not just communist against democracy and it was a real mess.
The fact that the N. Vietnamese had absolutely no regard for their own people's death rates, and you had a foe who would never give up. No democracy means no North Vietnamese peace movement gets started up to protest all their sons and daughters being killed. Free press saps the will of the people to fight in a democracy because it shows the number of our trooops killed. The N. Vietnamese press showed only glorious fighters winning victories against the enemy. No daily counts of the unthinkably high casualties the N. Vietnamese racked up.
Militarily they blew the war, but politically they won...

Answer 5

Because they were manipulated out of believing that the war was part of the communist threat, and that North Vietnam had expansion plans that went beyond South Vietnam.

FACT: The Pathet Lao & Khmer Rouge were both originally part of the Viet Minh, and Hanoi suppoted both along with the Viet Cong.

Answer 6

We never "lost" the war in Vietnam; at least from the military standpoint. Every mission we conducted in Vietnam was conducted successfully and we literally forced the North back into the negotiating table (Paris Peace Talks) thanks the the massive bombing operation we undertook in 1970 (Op Linebacker I & II); however, because public opinion against the war was strong; plans for "Vietnamization" of the war were put into place in 1972 and we left the country; the South held until 1975, when the North made a strong push into the south and eventually, all US forces (small garissons in the south, mainly around Saigon, including Than Son Nhut AB) were ordered to pull back and evacuate, since the war was no longer in US hands.

THe final slap in the face was when after multiple pledges by the President Nixon to provide monetary support to the South; the tehn Democratically controlled congress, froze all military assistance to SVN and eventually, due o lack of support; the South Vietnamese Govt. collapsed.

So from the military standpoint, we won the war; but on the political side of the equation, the War in Vietnam was a disastrous defeat that destroyed the career of a US President and marred the careers of two other Presidents and nearly ripped our nation apart at the seams.

Answer 7

Partially because of the Guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong. Partially because Congress cut off funding as the American people turned against the war. Partially because the Vietnamese had much support from the USSR. Partially because the Americans failed to win the support from the locals.
I'm sure many more reasons can be added to the list.

Answer 8

It is said that the Americans won every battle but lost the war !
This is because no war can be won without winning the hearts and minds. of the population....We are repeating the same mistake in Iraq !

Answer 9

Same as today, Liberals unwilling to commit resources to support the troops, A liberal American media making the Americans look like the BAD guys, Jane Fonda Hanging with the Local Commies as if they were some Ol' High school boyfriends. Ultimately though if you look how the government of Vietnam is embracing capitalism you may count us as the winners...............

Answer 10

Technically America was never at war in Vietnam which is why we lost our objectives were to keep the North Vietnamese out of South Vietnam...Saigon didn't fall until two months after we left. If we were allowed to kick aspirin and chew bubble gum then the U.S. would have rolled on through to Hanoi and killed Uncle Ho but thanks to the French we weren't allowed to do that!!