What was the "Real Reason" we went to war in Vietnam?

Question

Please real answers and no jokes-Thanks ---Personally I think the U.S. should have never gone,but I just want to know why we went in the first place and why was there a need for a Draft?

Answer 1

The geopolitics of war are never easy to explain. You have to remember the subtext of the much larger "Cold War" between the USA and the Soviet Union. Vietnam, following up on Korea, was another country where it seemed to the US politicians of the time, that communist Russia was "winning." That was seen as unacceptable, because if Vietnam fell, then maybe Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and other nearby countries would fall, creating a solid Communist "bloc" between the USSR and People's Republic of China. If that had occured, the Communist governments could have used their new powerbase to launch attacks in Eastern Europe or even against the US. Of course, it didn't happen, but we didn't know that it would not. The draft was simply what was done at the time. Things don't work that way with today's volunteer military forces, but at the time, they did not exist. No, we should never have gone in the first place. It was a silly war that would have "burned out" in a few years time if we'd just left it alone. But people were so scared that Russia was ready to push the nuclear button at any second, they would do anything to fight what was perceived as a threat to US interests. Whether you supported it or not, a lot of brave US men and women died in that war, and their memories should be honored. They weren't being "duped" by the government or being naive--they were serving their country.

Answer 2

Originally, Vietnam was a French colony. When the French army lost during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in1954 resulted in the signing of the 1954 Geneva Accords. France agreed to withdraw its forces from all its colonies in French Indochina, while stipulating that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, with control of the north given to the Viet Minh as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and the south becoming the State of Vietnam nominally under Emperor Bao Dai, preventing Ho Chi Minh from gaining control of the entire country. The refusal of Ngo Dinh Diem to allow elections in 1956, as had been stipulated by the Geneva Conference, would eventually lead to the first phase of the Second Indochina War, better known as the Vietnam War in Vietnam (1959–1963).

Answer 3

Good question, here is one man's opinion:

Vietnam has long been a country of occupation by other countries.
Back in 1956 there was the fall of the French, the battle of
Dien Bien Phu, where the French regulars took on the
communist Vietnamese, and lost the battle.
For years, France had Vietnam under a protectorate, and had
exported tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, to add to the French coffers of international income.
Ho Chi Minh was committed to independence and communism,
so seperating the Vietnamese from being under French rule
was the first priority, and that did happen.

As to American involvement, The communist -held North
Vietnam was opposed by the United States(US) for its perceived
close association with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.
Disagreements soon erupted over the organizing of elections
and reunification, and the US began increasing its contribution
of military advisors (US Army Green Berets) even as Soviet-supplied arms and munitions strengthened communist forces.
The controversial attack in 1964 on US ships on the Gulf of Tonkin, triggered a US assault on North Vietnamese military installations, and the deployment of more than 500,000 US
regulars into South Vietnam. U.S. forces were soon embroiled in a viscious guerilla war with the Vietcong, the South Vietnam
communist insurgent militia.
North Vietnamese forces unsuccessfully attempted to overrun the South, during the 1968 TET Offensive, and the war soon spread to neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
With casualties mounting, the US began transferring combat roles to the South Vietnamese in a process known as Vietnamization.
This effort had mixed results.
The Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973 formally
recognized the sovereignty of both sides. Under the terms of the
accords, all US/American combat troops were to be withdrawn
by March 29, 1973.
Limited fighting continued, but all major fighting ended until the
North once again invaded in strength and overpowered the South on April 30, 1975.
South Vietnam briefly became the Republic of South Vietnam, a puppet state under military occupation by North Vietnam, before
being officially reunified with the North under communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, July 2, 1976

If there is another "version " to this offering please come forward with it.
There is always Washington, D.C.'s official version, but what I
have offered as a summary is generally efficacious and
acceptable.

Thats my message, good luck.



Donald H. Sites
[e-mail]

Answer 4

Kennedy was the first to send troops, and I think it was only 3000 "military advisors" to support the South Vietnamese againt the communist North Vietnamese.

North Vietnam was supplied by the Soviet Union, and I think Kennedy was concerned about them being a puppet state of communism.

At that time, there were the "Viet Cong", the "Pathet Lao" and the "Kmer Rouge", all communist-backed revolutionaries in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (respectively), all of whom were intent on overthrowing their own peaceful governments.

Viet Nam had already been at war, though, and I don't have a lot of information on it. They were a French Colony, and when the Germans invaded France in WW II, Viet Nam was all of a sudden free of colonial rule, and the French actually fought in Viet Nam before we did and lost.

Answer 5

we were bailing out france. it was their colony and they asked us to come help them against the communist revolution. we were all obsessed with communists at the time so we did.

the reason we needed a draft is it is freaking hard to win a war in someone else's country. we done tried real real hard, then we ran out of soldiers and started a draft. then, everyone in the country started paying attention to the war and realized what a terrible idea it was. and they didn't want their kids to go, and the kids didn't want to go, so they all freaked out and demonstrated because it was terrifying. ask your parents how many people they knew who died in vietnam, nearly everyone knows a couple.

you'd think we would have remembered this when we went to iraq. the french seem to have finally got it.

Answer 6

To fight Communism, plain and simple. A communist leader was threatening a democratic state and we wanted to prove that a democratic society could beat a communist society.
I think we went and tried to help the French out as well because it used to be call French Indo China before the fighting began.

Answer 7

I was in saigon and I do not even know the real reason and we need the draft now and why we had it then not enough national guards.

Answer 8

On the top,,,to keep Vietnam from becoming communist. Bush will probably get blamed for that war also.