U.S. Involvement in Vietnam. The long and hopeless Vietnam War…
By: Tarik Ata
Tags: Cold War, History, Vietnam War, Vietnam, American History

U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

Viet Cong prisoner awaits interrogation. Credits: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/books/review/max-hastings-vietnam.html

The war in Vietnam started in 1945 lasting until 1975 and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other Communist allies, while the South was supported by the United States (U.S.) and other anti-communist allies. The war was brutal, with casualties and deaths varying but detailed studies have shown that from 1965 to 1975, when the U.S. was most engaged, approximately 1,353,000 Vietnamese were killed, including deaths of both militaries and civilians, with far more dying between 1945 to 1965.

The war was one of the most controversial in history with mass protests occurring, leading to what was known as the ‘Vietnam Syndrome’ describing how the public and politicians no longer wanted to support any further foreign interventions after the Vietnam War.

This article will address how and why the U.S. was involved in Vietnam, starting with the political and financial support for France from 1945 and throughout the Indochina War, going against their anti-colonial beliefs to secure an ally against the threat of communism in Europe. Continuing onto how Washington’s involvement in Asia became publicly direct following the ‘fall of China’ to communism, fearing what became known as the ‘domino effect’ resulting in the U.S. being heavily involved in the formation of South Vietnam and conducting covert operations against North Vietnam. Once the Cold War intensified, the U.S. feared the ‘falling’ of South Vietnam to communism, resulting in Washington using the Gulf of Tonkin incidents to escalate the Vietnam conflict and to deploy conventional U.S. forces, in attempts to suppress the spread of communism within Asia.

French soldiers capture Viet Minh soldier in the First Indochina War. Credits: Paul Hanger Pinterest

French Indochina and Covert U.S. Involvement

The primary goal of the U.S. after the Second World War was to secure their influence within Europe and to establish new market places to which they could export American products by instigating the Marshall Plan in 1948. This would simultaneously reduce poverty and increase the standard of living to deter the appeal of communism to post-war Europe, as the continent was a priority for Washington.

U.S. involvement in Vietnam began in the 1940s, following Washington’s reluctant support for the French efforts of reclaiming its former colony Vietnam, which briefly experienced independence in August/September 1945, with Ho Chi Minh proclaiming the formation and independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). France was aided by the Marshall Plan in 1948 providing the country with $2.3 billion as well as further credits and loans to France from 1946 to 1953 totalling to $4.9 billion helping rebuild the nation while also funding its colonial aspirations. The French used large portions of the funds provided for the war effort in Indochina, resulting in the U.S. indirectly paying for around three-quarters of France’s war.

The U.S. was conflicted as Washington’s stance was anti-colonial and wanting all colonial empires dissolved. However, the U.S. also wanted to strengthen Western Europe, maintaining a good relationship with France to contain the spread of communism. This led the U.S. to provide France with covert support against the Viet Minh, the communist insurgency led by Ho Chi Minh, who sought U.S. support against the French but was ignored as the threat of communism outweighed his bid for an independent Vietnam, leading Ho Chi Minh to initiate insurgencies against the French. However, despite initially being reluctant to support France, not wanting to assist in a colonial war, the U.S. felt more and more inclined to become actively involved as it became clear that communists were the driving force for independence and due to the need to maintain France as an anti-communist ally.

Washington claimed to not send troops into Indochina to help with the colonial war. But information recently uncovered reveals that Washington covertly supplied U.S. Air Force pilots to support the French throughout Operation Castor in 1953 and the following year two U.S. pilots were killed at the siege of Dien Bien Phu but remained publicly neutral until the 1950s.

An American poster calling for containment, a foreign policy directed to suppressing communism wherever it arose, distributed in Aisa and depicting Juan dela Cruz defending the Philipines from communism. Credits: National Archives at College Park.

U.S. Involvement Intensifies

Washington’s involvement became publicly direct in the 1950s after the foreign policy changed following the ‘fall of China’ to communism in 1949. The U.S. foreign policy shifted to containment in Asia, fearing the spread of communism to neighbouring states, seeing war erupt in Korea. President Truman, in response to Mao turning to Moscow, adopted the National Security Council NSC 48/2, creating the basis for Washington’s involvement in Asia, increasing the levels of assistance for the French in their fight against Ho Chi Minh. Alongside the ‘fall of China,’ the State of Vietnam was proclaimed on the 2nd July 1949, led by Bảo Đại, who fought Ho Chi Minh for legitimacy and control over the entirety of Vietnam.

Washington quickly recognised the State of Vietnam in February 1950 deeming it as the legitimate state, following the Soviet Union and China’s recognition for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in January 1950, constructing the foundations for the future Cold War conflict. A revisionist approach would deem that the anti-communist stance was strengthened firstly by the supporting of foundations of the Associated State of Vietnam. Secondly, by the Mutual Defence Assistance Act of 1949, aimed at tackling the worldwide threat of communism and raising the morale of friendly nations, which Washington could side with against communism, binding France and the U.S. together in the Cold War.

The loss of Hainan island to Chinese communist forces, instigated Truman to covertly authorise direct financial support to the French in their efforts during the Indochina War, to later expand upon and openly engage with the Mutual Security Act of 1951. Washington was fearful of Ho Chi Minh winning the war, believing North Vietnam would be tied to the Soviet Union, becoming a puppet state with the Soviets controlling all affairs. During the same period, the Korean War also broke out causing a fear of communism taking over the whole of South-East Asia. Potentially resulting in what Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to as the domino effect in 1954, seeing the fall of one nation to communism causing neighbouring countries to fall.

The Mutual Security Act (MSA) of 1951 was highly influenced by the Korean War and the fear that communism would spread in Asia. The act provided financial aid to help poorer nations develop in efforts to steer them away from communism. The act provided U.S. allies, such as France, with aid of up to $7.5 billion to be spent on militaries, technologies, and the economy, continuing the support of the Indochina War. Additionally, it was also supposed to strengthen the ties with Western allies in Europe in order to tackle the threat of communism. The MSA was renewed each year up until 1961 and led to the U.S. by 1954 funding up to 80 per cent of the Indochina War.

It began to appear that Washington’s support for France during the Indochina War became a proxy war between the U.S. and communism, fighting it and supporting those that opposed it wherever it would arise on the globe. Washington ensured that they did not send troops into Indochina to help with the colonial war. However, information that has been uncovered recently reveals that Washington covertly supplied U.S. Air Force pilots to support the French throughout Operation Castor in 1953 and the following year two U.S. pilots were killed at the siege of Dien Bien Phu.

Mỹ Lai massacre, March 16, 1968. The massacre of over 400 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, including women and children. Credits: https://time.com/longform/my-lai-massacre-ron-haeberle-photographs/

The Creation of South Vietnam

The U.S. continued their support for the French via further U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force assistance, along with covert central intelligence operations being carried out from March to May 1954. The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) carried out hundreds of airdrops from March to May, providing the French with airlifts of paratroopers and other military materials, such as barbed wire, medics, and ammunition. However, despite the efforts of the CIA and the French by June 1954 their dominance began to collapse, and they slowly lost control of Indochina, leading to the Geneva Conference of 1954 in the summer. In this conference, the U.S., French, British, Soviet, and Chinese delegations met to discuss the fate of Indochina and other Cold War issues.

The Geneva conference resulted in the Geneva Settlement forming the states of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the State of Vietnam, with the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Laos becoming neutral monarchies. Vietnam was divided from the 17th parallel, the Ho communists would control the North and Emperor Bao Dai, alongside his prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem, would administer the territory South of the 17th parallel. Elections were to be held in July 1956 to determine the leadership of a unified Vietnam, but neither the U.S. nor South Vietnam signed the agreements. Knowing that Ho’s victory at Dien Bien Phu prior to the Geneva Settlement increased Ho’s popularity and that if elections were held he would easily win, resulting in a unified Vietnam falling to communism.

Washington needed to ensure the survival of South Vietnam, preventing the domino effect, which led Eisenhower’s administration to strengthen the military of Bao Dai/Diem regime by sending 300 military advisors in 1954, increasing gradually to 948 military advisors in 1961, later rising to 12,000 by the end of 1962. Washington also developed and maintained a close relationship with the prime minister Diem, helping him survive several coups from 1954 to 1956 and rigging the 1955 election that ousted Bao Dai.

8 May-21 July 1954: The Geneva Conference. Credits:https://vietnamtheartofwar.com/1954/05/08/8th-may-to-21st-july-1954-the-geneva-conference/

The U.S. supported and attempted to stabilise South Vietnam, improving the educational systems and rural infrastructure, while simultaneously discrediting the North by destroying government printing presses, encouraging migration, sabotaging bus and rail lines, all attempts to weaken the communist North. One of these operations was highly successful and was known as Operation Exodus, convincing 1.25 million Vietnamese Catholics to flee the North and emigrate to the South.

The U.S. continued their support of South Vietnam, suppressing communist guerrilla campaigns fighting against the authoritarian Diem regime. One way in which the CIA attempted to suppress these groups was by the establishment of the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups made up of 93 CIA operation officers. These officers were asked with defending the civilian populations from the Viet Cong via the village-based programs in the hopes that it would lead to defeating communism within the South. Washington continued their support as they believed a defeat for the U.S. backed South Vietnam would lead to more guerrilla wars breaking out in other areas of the globe, whereas a victory — Washington determined — would change the course of action, deterring other communist guerrilla insurgencies from doing the same.

A group of South Vietnamese army soldiers and an American soldier with two captured Vietcong suspects. Credits: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/opinion/what-was-the-vietnam-war-about.html

A False Flag and Escalation of War

The Gulf of Tonkin incidents involved one confrontation and one falsely claimed engagement between North Vietnam and U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, which led to a justification for U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to become more directly engaged in the Vietnam conflict, deploying conventional U.S. forces, and engaging in open warfare from 1965.

North Vietnam’s General Giap believed DESOTO patrols (DeHaven Special Operations off Tsingtao) were sent to the Gulf to provoke North Vietnam into providing an excuse for escalation, various officials aboard the USS Maddox (the U.S. destroyer ship allegedly engaged in the conflict) also present the same theories as General Giap.

The second incident is surrounded with doubts within Washington and North Vietnam, as it is known that government officials such as William Bundy were seeking an opportunity to initiate escalations during the Vietnam conflict even suggesting an invasion of China. These claims are supported by many statements and records of Washington officials such as Alexander Haig, who was an assistant to Secretary McNamara. Endless attempts were made to verify that an attack happened rather than question if one actually took place. Other government officials also began to have doubts, such as Daniel Ellsberg who stated that he was sent, not to find out if an attack happened, but rather on a mission to shore up the case. Former U.S. Navy Intelligence Analyst James Bamford in his book Body of Secrets outlined how the primary purpose of the Maddox was to act as a provocateur to get a reaction needed for escalating the war.

The highly contested second incident and the evidence provided makes it is a clear case of a false flag, and from a revisionist approach, the U.S. continuing their support for South Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin incidents led to an escalation of the Cold War. Soviet involvement in Vietnam was limited until 1964–65, but as the conflict intensified with U.S. troops being deployed, the Soviets became far more active, causing Soviet military and economic assistance to increase dramatically, from 40 million dollars in 1964 to one billion dollars annually from 1967 to 1972.

Female Viet Cong guerrilla, 1972. Credits: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/female-viet-cong-guerrila-1972/

Conclusion

Washington’s attempts to prevent Europe from falling to communism led to the supporting of authoritarian leaders and funding colonial wars. The U.S. involvement in Vietnam dates back to 1945 and continues throughout the Cold War, with its role intensifying as the Cold War does, even more so after the ‘Fall of China’ in 1949. Washington’s fiscal and military support for France and later South Vietnam only further escalated the Cold War.

Overall, Washington’s involvement in Vietnam started with their budgetary and military aid to France to ensure them as an ally fighting the communist threat in Europe, expanding into Asia to support the French during the Indochina War. U.S. support was then given to South Vietnam to put continuous pressure against the North, intensifying year by year until a false flag incident justified the deployment of U.S. conventional army in 1965 — leaving Washington chasing communist insurgencies wherever they may arise on the globe, shutting them down with sly and brutal tactics.