Why did the US and Australia pull out of the Vietnam war?

Answer 1

A peace agreement was reached with North Vietnam in which the U.S.and Australia would with draw there troops and North Vietnam would stop attacking South Vietnam. After the U.S. and Australia withdrew there troops North Vietnam broke it's agreement and attacked and over ran South Vietnam.

Answer 2

The Vietnam War was a disaster. Entrenched in and with the support of the local vietnamese people, fighting the nationalist viet kong was almost impossible without an incredible escalation of military forces in Vietnam.

What started out as a police action to stop communism in South East Asia, the Domino Theory, became a full blown war which required more men and material from home.

Unlike Korea which had the support of the United Nations, Vietnam enjoyed very little international support. What started out as proping up French Colonialism as early as 1954 evolved into preventing the Western supported Vietnamese government from collapsing under Communist support.

At home, governments originally enjoyed support for the Vietnam War. U.S President Lyndon Johnson visited Australia in 1967 and met with Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt and the infamous 'All the way with LBJ' statement which committed Australia further into the war.

But unlike previous wars - there was very little idea of what we were fighting for. This became more apparent with television broadcasting images from Vietnam as well as horror stories of gas being used on the poor vietnamese as well as troops being killed daily in increasing numbers.

To win the war in Vietnam, meant increasing the level of violence and terror - not only against the Viet cong, but also against the Vietnamese people. As democracies, we were supposed to be fighting to prevent communism from undermining democracy - but that was not the case. Aust and U.S troops were fighting against the ordinary and poor Vietnamese people.

We were figthing a war that had no moral value.

Protests at home became more vocal and critical of a government that resorted to conscription and violence against protests of a war that had very little to do with protecting the national interest and more to do with propping up right wing regimes.

In the end, politically weak and militarily deficient, U.S and Australian troops withdrew hoping for a Korean style military withdrawal to divide South and North Vietnam.

Answer 3

The South Vietnamese armies pretty much disintergrated under the onslaught of northern troops supported by the Russians and the Chinese. The Americans and Aussies had no choice but to vacate. The Tet offensive caught many asleep and our generals underestimated the tenacity of the enemy. The troops also had very little support from home. Students fled over the Canadian border to escape the draft.Our politicians screwed up royallysending mixed signals.

Answer 4

They were defeated by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong