Why USA lost in Vietnam?

Question

And I reject the "idea" that "military won" in Vietnam [Sounds like the "stab in the back" of the Kaiser's Germans after World War I]. We lost in Vietnam because the government got into a war, that started when Ho Chi Ming declared Vietnam's independence from France in 1946, that the French could not win. Large number of South Vietnamese didn't like the Saigon's government. We thought China was going to intervene, it didn't. And it never had the complete support of the American public, and much less the rest of the world. But we arrogantly push aside the doubts and went into it anyway. It was the most stupid war USA ever got into. And it was undeclared. And USA has not learned the lesson. If you lose it diplomatically, militarily it won't make a difference. "War is politics done differently", Von Klausewitz Feedback if you please.

Answer 1

The US lost in Vietnam because of mismanagement from Washington. Between a lack of proper aggressiveness and the ludicrous rules of engagement it was impossible to achieve a victory militarily. And since the Vietnamese had been fighting since world war 2, they weren't about to negotiate an end to the war.

As for the idea that the "military won" it is a valid statement. Any time the North Vietnamese army fought in a more traditional open battle, the US defeated them. However the war was mostly fought as a guerilla conflict, and this the US was unprepared for.

The reasons for getting into the war were mostly about the "Red Threat" and really had nothing to do with South Vietnam or anything else. Unfortunately they didn't look into the situation fully. If they had maybe they would have just said "not worth the hassle, we can't win either way here".

Answer 2

America lost because it tried to fight a limited/polite war against people who where fighting to eliminate oppression/exploitation.
Other stupid wars of the USA; the war on drugs, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war and the war on terror. It seems the USA does not learn from it's mistakes. Supporting corrupt governments does not produce democracy or stable social systems.

Answer 3

You have forgotten that Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea all supported the US, by sending troops.

It was political interference by Washington that lost the war, and I see the same thing happening in Iraq.

Answer 4

Because we got into a war that we shouldn't have.

Look at the war in Iraq, it seems that history is beginning to repeat itself once again. They were having problems with Communism and we shouldn't have gotten involved.