Why Did America Withdraw Its Forces from Vietnam in 1973?
By 1973, after a decade of brutal armed contact and with nearly 60,000 Americans dead, the once proud and mighty USA had been brought to its knees. Feeling isolated the USA decided to abandon its commitment in Vietnam after rising pressure from years of mistakes. America withdrew from Vietnam due to several main reasons; some were long-term e.g. Protests of the American citizens, and others were short-term factors e.g. Morale of American soldiers. In this essay I will discuss the main factors for American withdrawal from Vietnam and try to process the most important ones. I will show how the US media combined with protests in the USA was the most important reason for American withdrawal and ultimately led to the American withdrawal from Vietnam.
America’s first mistake regarding the war was the most fundamental. Their tactics. All of America’s tactics were inappropriate, brutal and they were only looking for fast solutions and never the bigger picture. America did the worst thing possible in a war and based all of their tactics on assumptions, which by matter of coincidence were all wrong. The first indication of American tactics being reckless and inappropriate was the infamous “Operation Rolling Thunder” ordered by LBJ and subjected the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other suspected communist bases in South Vietnam to bombing for 8 weeks. 3 ½ years later more bombs had been dropped on South Vietnam than all the bombs that were dropped in the Second World War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was still intact and the most casualties inflicted were those on Vietnamese civilians leading America to lose the “Hearts and Minds” of the Vietnamese. After the very first battle of Vietnam, set in The Ia Drang valley, America set a pattern for their tactics which would remain for the rest of the war; tactics which would question the very competence of the American government. General Westmoreland was convinced that if the communists maintained heavy losses they could not and would not
America’s first mistake regarding the war was the most fundamental. Their tactics. All of America’s tactics were inappropriate, brutal and they were only looking for fast solutions and never the bigger picture. America did the worst thing possible in a war and based all of their tactics on assumptions, which by matter of coincidence were all wrong. The first indication of American tactics being reckless and inappropriate was the infamous “Operation Rolling Thunder” ordered by LBJ and subjected the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other suspected communist bases in South Vietnam to bombing for 8 weeks. 3 ½ years later more bombs had been dropped on South Vietnam than all the bombs that were dropped in the Second World War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was still intact and the most casualties inflicted were those on Vietnamese civilians leading America to lose the “Hearts and Minds” of the Vietnamese. After the very first battle of Vietnam, set in The Ia Drang valley, America set a pattern for their tactics which would remain for the rest of the war; tactics which would question the very competence of the American government. General Westmoreland was convinced that if the communists maintained heavy losses they could not and would not