America and Vietnam: The Unending War

Herring, George C.

doi:10.2307/20045006

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…It led to abhorrence for "gradualism," the slow infusion of forces over time, and resulted in what has become commonly known as the "Vietnam Syndrome," a rejection of American intervention abroad for fear that it could bog down American forces in a quagmire. 20 Vietnam gave the lie to the assumption that conventionally trained troops could conduct effective counterinsurgency operations and demonstrated the limitations of the American "way of war." Although U.S. forces won battle after battle, they could not win the war.…”

Section: The History Of Sasomentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and Support Operations: History and Debates

Taw

2010

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism

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S. military doctrine has recently elevated stability and support operations (SASO) to be a mission on par with the traditional combat missions, offense and defense. The new doctrinal approach to SASO represents a revolutionary change in the military's raison d'être; now the armed forces' job is not only to win battles, but to create space for political negotiations and accords through the provision of controlled, nonviolent environments and other forms of military assistance to civilians. This article puts this change into context, looking at the American military's history of SASO and the longstanding debates about the military's priorities and roles.On 28 November 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released Directive Number 3000.05 1 requiring stability operations to be treated on par with offense and defense in every aspect of military preparation. In its directive, the Pentagon offered only a very general characterization of stability operations: "Military and civilian activities conducted across the spectrum from peace to conflict to establish or maintain order in States and regions." Notably, the mission includes civilians. It involves the establishment and maintenance of order. And it applies equally in peacetime and in conflict. These aspects of stability operations differentiate them from the armed forces' traditional offensive and defensive missions and represent a dramatic change in the military's perception of its role and responsibilities. Indeed, over the past five years, both DoD's civilian leadership and military officers appear to have embraced stability and support operations (SASO) in doctrine and nascent changes to training, force structure, and equipping. Military leaders now are calling for U.S. forces to be prepared for "full-spectrum operations" entailing "the application of combat power through simultaneous and continuous combinations of four elements: offense, defense, stability, and civil support." 2 Elevating SASO to a core mission alongside offense and defense is a radical change that represents a new raison d'être for the U.S. military. It is the armed forces' most fundamental adjustment since the establishment of the Department of Defense in 1947, arguably more foundational than the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols reorganization. 3 Military leaders themselves are touting this as a revolution. And, despite being so recent, the change is whole-hearted, with a fully developed legitimizing logic that goes something like this: the military has a conventional capabilities surplus but a deficit for conducting the kinds

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Section: The History Of Sasomentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and Support Operations: History and Debates

Taw

2010

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism

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“…The Vietnam War has a hauntingly long reach, hovering like a ghost over contemporary discourses and policy making (Herring 1991;Morgan 2000). Following the Vietnam War, U.S. foreign policy was partially constrained by the Vietnam Syndrome, which in turn gave rise to the Powell Doctrine.…”

Section: Policy Legaciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discursive Legacies: The U.S. Peace Movement and "Support the Troops"

Coy¹,

Woehrle²,

Maney³

2008

Social Problems

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To mobilize support for war and to control dissent, governments draw upon deeply engrained discourses regarding soldiering and the citizen's duty to support the troops. We identify the cultural and political evolution of the discursive legacy of "support the troops" from the Vietnam War through the Iraq War. Using longitudinal and comparative organizational analyses, we analyze how this discursive legacy was engaged by U.S. peace movement organizations (PMOs). PMOs frequently made positive references to U.S. troops during both the Gulf War and Iraq War, creating a stable discourse centered around supporting the troops. Moreover, during the Gulf War the movement expanded the web of support by asking who else should be cared about beyond the troops, thus de-coupling the support discourse from the nation and the state. During the Iraq War, PMOs also developed an elaborated "discourse of betrayal" by redefining what it means to support the troops. Here they deployed proactive, anticipatory discourses, turning the tables on the Bush administration. PMOs also increasingly criticized the troops during the Iraq War due to well publicized human rights abuses. The findings demonstrate that movement discourses are both stable and flexible, influenced by past rounds of discursive contention as well as contemporary political events. We highlight the cultural constraints imposed on movements by dominant discursive legacies, and the strategic responses made by movements in response to emerging discursive opportunities.

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“…27 Lawrence, 47. 28 Ibid,68. people. President Kennedy and his Administration shared the consistent invariable view of communism, as did both of his predecessors.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Vietnam War was fought on a terrain that rendered the traditional styles of warfare useless. 68 The Vietnamese had lived on that land for centuries and had an incredible advantage that the United States was never able to master. Along with guerrilla warfare came the question asked by Kennedy, "How can we tell if we are winning?"…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Vietnamese Farmers That Changed the World: The Impact of the Vietnam War on the Cold War

Martignago¹

2018

The General

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The Vietnam War was the quintessential Cold War conflict between the United States and the Sino-Soviet supplied, nationalistic North Vietnamese. This war saw the world’s most wealthiest and dominant military force suffer a long, drawn out defeat to a poverty-stricken society of farmers, armed with nothing but an unyielding nationalism and outdated weaponry. This paper examines the United States’ involvement in Vietnam throughout the Vietnam War and also explores the ways in which the Vietnam War affected the Cold War. Beginning with President Harry S. Truman in 1945 and ending with President Gerald Ford in 1975, this paper examines the motivations behind each of the six United States Presidential Administrations during the Vietnam War and gives an in-depth explanation for the crucial decisions that were made by the United States Government over the course of the war. The effect that these foreign policy decisions and directives had on the Cold War atmosphere is also heavily analyzed. The faults and failures of the United States that led to their humiliating defeat in Vietnam consequently altered the Cold War atmosphere. In order to fully understand the Cold War, it is necessary to understand the Vietnam War and its impact on United States foreign policy.

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America and Vietnam: The Unending War

Cited by 22 publications

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Stability and Support Operations: History and Debates

Stability and Support Operations: History and Debates

Discursive Legacies: The U.S. Peace Movement and "Support the Troops"

Vietnamese Farmers That Changed the World: The Impact of the Vietnam War on the Cold War

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