Why did we lose in Vietnam?

Question

I truly don't understand this. Why didn't we just invade the north. There is no way that they could have halted an organized assault on their capital.

What gives?

Lots of great and insightful questions. This is too close to call for me.

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Answer 1

we killed too many of our own. watch Born on the Fourth of July starring Tom Cruise.

Answer 2

There are a lot of comparisons going around right now between the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. The biggest issue was that there was no real exit strategy in either of the wars. In the case of Vietnam, the sole purpose of the war was to stop the spread of communism. With an agenda like that, and no real outline for ending the war, the U.S. got stuck in Vietnam. Inavding the north would have been tricky, since it's believed that both China and Russia would have been supporting the north Vietnamese. Making a direct assault could have provoked direct action from more specifically the Russians, and thus World War III could have broken out. Ultimately, the war was lost from pressure from the homeland (mostly from the war prostests.) In a nation like America, it is ultimately the decision of people whether or not they want to pay for a war they don't support.

Answer 3

The cause in Vietnam was lost because we could not get the majority of the south Vietnamese to fight and die for it.
The North Vietnamese and their guerrilla allies in the south were prepared to do whatever it took including sending children into battle to win. The US was not or unable do all that was neccessary becasue of fear the war would escalate to a world war.
When the war lost public support it became completely unwinnable. When the public turned against the war congress did too so despite Nixon's promise no planes were sent to bomb the NVA advancing on Saigon.

Ultimately it was as General Omar Bradley said about Korea "it was the wrong war, at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Answer 4

I am old enough to remember the Viet Nam war. When our men were over there, they were not allowed to follow the Viet Cong over the border into a neighboring country because we did not have any agreement with those countries. So the North Vietnamese ( Viet Cong) would hide across the border, strike our forces and retreat where we were not allowed to go.

As for not invading the North -- I think they had there hands full just surviving where they were.

It was a very unpopular war here at home and for much the same reasons as the current war.

Answer 5

Invading North Vietnam?. That would be suicide. Remember that the Vietnam War is a proxy war, with China and Russia supporting the North and the U.S. supporting the South. Had the U.S. invaded the North, it could have escalated into a full-scale war and direct confrontation between China/Russia and the U.S., and that could have triggered World War III.

Answer 6

We didn't lose, we lost the support of the american people. And the us government would not let us win. They are doing the same thing in Iraq, Clean out an area and pull us out so the enemy knew we were not coming back and swarmed in there and were safe. What happened to battle lines? If we had battle lines in Vietnam we could have been out of there in a short time. Also the politicians made a lot of money on the war, just as they are now

Answer 7

There where many rules and regulations that where put into effect that limited what could or could not be a target. Unfortunately, a lot of what could not be a target was what was killing our forces. Pilots where allowed to attack a target, but could not attack the target right next to it that was killing the ground forces. By the time this was remedied, the country was against the war, and it was to late to regroup and do it right.

Answer 8

We won every battle and lost the war because we left before the job was done.

Also, we didn't adapt to the warfare style. We were trying to win the war with large unit tactics when we should have been using small unit tactics. Civil Affairs would have been the best weapon because we were fighting an insurgency. What we needed to do was take the human resources away from the insurgents.

Answer 9

because is a civil war
a third party can not will in a civil war cos the moral or fighting
spirit is too strong to lose
these peoples are fighting for their dream
and their dreams to them is bulletproof
is the same spirit American have to break free from England

Answer 10

We did not lose. We left before the job was done. Most likely because of liberal whining back in the states.