Ho Chi Minh's Mistake During The Vietnam War

Before the Vietnam war, the average American could not point out Vietnam on the map. Now most Americans can point it out on the map and feel ashamed of how the war resulted. The Vietnam war was what in which the north and south of Vietnam were fighting against each other with the support of foreign forces. The weather seems to be a back room or from the Cold War ended tragically. The war in perspective of the united states was just a war on the contaminant. To Ho Chi Minh the was to unite the lands people into one and to stop killing each other. Despite some benefits, the Vietnam war must be understood as a colossal mistake that could only end the in us defeat and tarnished their reputation worldwide. The war was a mistake from the gulf of
Tonkin incident and the mass theory behind it, the war was unwinnable because of the tactics guerilla warfare and their persistence of their leader Ho chi Minh. And last but not least u.s government was left with a bad reputation with its own people in the people of Vietnam. The Vietnam war was a war that that lasted about 20 years, from 1954 to 1973. The war had started after leader Ho Chi Minh created the Vietnam party in the northern Vietnam. The Vietnam War happened when communism was starting to spread to the thought of Vietnam. North Vietnam was Communist in the south of Vietnam was a capitalist country. The United States took sides in the South while the north took sides with the Soviet Union to get help to overtake the South.The leader of the South was president Ngo Dinh Diem he received much help from the United States throughout the war. The United States took an initiative to help South Vietnam fight against the spread of Communism. She the war took part during the Cold War which was the United States and the Soviet Union fighting against communism. The United States Peak and involvement of the war was in 1969 where more than 500,000 Americans were involved.
The Vietnam war was an unwinnable war because of Ho Chi Minh call on using the foreign tactic of guerrilla warfare. In the article, the Vietnam Experience: Tools of War written by Edgar C. Doleman that speaks about the way the Northern Vietnamese won the Vietnam War. “ not only did the Vietnamese use the hit and run tactics but also the elaborate tunnel systems under many villages”(Doleman 1). While there could be Villages being impressed by the US and South Vietnam Northern Vietnam would be making plans underground to overtake them the underground Villages gave the North Vietnamese an advantage because the United States would not be predicting but they were Underground. This made them able to perform sneak attack more swiftly and be successful. This tactic made the United States and Southern Vietnam have a disadvantage against the North.even though the underground tunnel systems were an effective combat style the northern Vietnamese used other effective combat styles. In the article named the 5 most horrifying booby traps in history of War, by Ryan Terris, as he speaks about the top 5 most horrifying booby traps he says “In the tunnel complexes they stuffed them into pieces of hollow big boobs and pop them into places where that you are startled rats were likely to stick their weary hands”(Terris 2) .The American troops would never be able to tell whether a bamboo stick has been planted with venomous snakes such as the pit viper. The US troops would inevitably find the booby trap planted with them because the vegetation of Vietnam is highly planted with bamboo sticks. The United States don't have such tactics to fight against North Vietnam comma this also gives him a lead in the war because the Vietnamese are actually from the country of the Americans who are foreigners to this land. The United States was no match for the tactics of Guerrilla warfare because these ideas were foreign tactics YouTube because I'm just I'm just starting to type right now they're all patchy like I'm not doing everything in order I got him putting it together intro background. The United States fought in the war that was unavailable because of the northern communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
In a letter Ho Chi Minh president Lyndon Johnson 1967, he “the Vietnamese people never submit to force Karma they will never accept talks under threats of bombs.” Ho Chi Minh is expressing the stress that Vietnamese people are going on there because of the United States. Ho Chi Minh has made it clear that he will do anything it takes to make sure that the US will be out of Vietnam declare independence. He will take any means necessary to fight. Even though their people are generally peaceful people. The Vietnamese people are intimidated by the United States like they think they are, they will not be taken over by the United States. Even though Ho Chi Minh can be formal at times there are times when he can be intimidating. Ho Chi Minh stated in 1966 when he was asked about final Victory he said if buy final Victory you mean the departure of the Americans that we will fight till final Victory everything depends on the Americans if they want to make war for 20 years then we shall make war for 20 years. If they want to make peace we shall make peace and invite them for tea afterward”(Minh 1). It was up to the United States to end the war in Vietnam. The Vietnamese are willing to fight for their independence from the French and from the United States. The word of Ho Chi Minh was more than just a war of spreading communism it was a war to unite its people. Ho Chi Minh
understands that if peace is made there will be no grudge against them hence his willingness to make peace with them besides the fact that they shouldn't even be there in the first place. Because of Ho Chi Minh and his efforts he made the Vietnam War unwinnable. The Vietnam War tarnished the United States reputation in the mind of its people. In his speech, Martin Luther King Jr gave about the Vietnam War titled Beyond Vietnam written on April 4th, 1967 he wrote “They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in 1954 – in 1945 rather – after a combined French and Japanese occupation and before the communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them”(king 1). Martin Luther king was a civil right leader who had more things to talk about like the future of the united states. This quote shows that the United States even though the Vietnamese admire the Declaration of Independence enough to pay for part of it to their own Declaration of Independence United States does not care for them. United States help them for the worse not better. The government decided to fight against them because they felt like they were ready for Independence. Who's to say the country isn't ready for their independence especially if the country saying it is corrupt. Former Senator J William Fulbright told the New York Times in 1985 Ten Years After the US lost the Vietnam War “the biggest lesson I've learned from the Vietnam War is not to trust our own government statements. I had no idea until then that you could not rely on them in the minds of many Americans alongside J William Fulbright had lost credibility with the United States. Ultimately affecting its reputation with its own people once more. After the Vietnam War, many people questioned whether the government was worth listening to after the loss of the war. From the outside the United States are seen as a global superpower but from the inside it's seen as corrupt. For many more reasons than just losing the war. There is no doubt tarnished United States reputation with these people causing them to lose faith. The United States should have never engaged in the Vietnam War because of the image they created for themselves around the world. In the article, the Vietnam War by The Victors by Elisabeth Rossen interviews many Northern Vietnamese students that were affected by the Vietnam War. One of the people named Vu Van Vinh to describe Americans as cruel wolves. He also said that the United States try to inscribe the war in Vietnam into the cold War's campaign. The reputation as well as can be perceived from the US invading villages taking people's wives and Brainwashing them to hate the communist. the Vietnamese know the wolves are branching from the cold war and felt like they were trying to prove a point. they saw us as only wanting to do their business of stopping the spread of Communism and only invaded to make sure that containment was possible so communism would not reach the United States. In the same article by Elizabeth Rosen Vu, Van Vinh explained how he felt when he saw the American troops go by him “Whenever I saw foreigners, I felt scared,” Vu told me”(Rossen3). in the eyes of the Vietnamese, they were scared of The Americans. the Americans raided Villages and would rape the women take over and teach the young different curriculum than what date would normally be taught in schools. Many were taken from the homes are recruited for the war and not many returned. cute they were frightened of the Americans because they knew they were the reason why the North during Vietnam would be getting and killing many of the loved ones. because of the war, Americans have left a forever imprinting buy reputation in the homes and minds of the Vietnamese people who were affected by the war. the United States should have never involved themselves in the war because it was a mistake because of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
In the article 30 year anniversary Tonkin lies launch Vietnam War by Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon breakdown what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin. Solomon and Cohen State “ rather than being on patrol August 2nd the United States Destroyer Maddox were engaged in aggressive intelligent maneuvers in sync with the coordinated attack on North Vietnam by the South Vietnamese Navy and Laotian Air Force”(Soloman & cohen 1). there are many uncertainties on what exactly happened that day and if the US ships were actually targeted on purpose. There is also uncertainty if the tanks were even attacked. Whatever did happen up this incident caused the turning point in the Vietnam War which resulted in the full involvement of the US Army troops. before this event, the US Army was only donating for their support to the South. this whole incident happened because the US troops in charge of the ships were not doing what they had needed to be doing at the right time, therefore, resulting in preventable drama. The United States took advantage of this “attack” as a way to get fully involved in the war with the passing of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The United States should have never been involved in the war because the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie. although the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a mistake there any more mistakes on why the US should
have never involved itself in the Vietnam War like the power of underestimation. In the article underestimating nationalism by Caroline Schnell, an article speaking about how do United States underestimates people groups in countries she quotes McNamara, that said: “The United States did not fully comprehend Vietnam’s history of resistance and therefore did not anticipate the power of Vietnamese nationalism” (McNamara 322). in the past, the Vietnamese have been oppressed by many other countries. they know how to deal with it how to reject it's almost like they've been training for this moment. Their a hundred years plus of Oppression and being colonized over and over again has shaped a strong identity for the Vietnamese people the has been suppressed but it's finally being let out through this war. The Gulf of Tonkin incident and the underestimation of the power of the Vietnamese people has made the be labeled as a mistake for u.s. involvement.

The Vietnam war was a war that was unwinnable on the united states part. The united did not understand the ambition of the Vietnamese people and their ruthless leader. Due to the united states underestimation of the Vietnamese people they lost a war they should not have taken part of, to begin with, their accusations are shaped the War's outcome. The United States being labeled as a global superpower shows failure with this war that tarnished the reputation especially with the USSR. The war that was deemed a Civil War at first change into a war that scarred many people not just from one country but 2. The United States was affected in many ways even though some might say it was a war that helped United States economy it also hurt the hearts of many Americans at home waiting for their families
What the united states must understand is that not everyone thinks the same as them. They must understand not every battle can be won and that not everything can be stopped. The US must understand a nation is only as strong as their people in the Vietnamese people were very strong that's why they were able to out power foreign forces such as the French and the United States. No Nation should suffer as the Vietnamese did the Vietnamese only wanted to join together for the better. The war how to set I'll come since Ho Chi Minh came to a lead for the north. It is the United States responsibility to know when to involve themselves into extracting themselves from a problem before it escalates into something that could have been prevented.