Class Discussion:
Why Couldn’t the United States Bomb its way to Victory in Vietnam? (pages 1076-1077)
In the Vietnam War, strategic bombing brought forth by United States air power delivered even more explosives than WWII, but this did not bring victory in Vietnam. Commander in chief of the Pacific Command during the Vietnam War, Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp, emphasized that “Our air power did not fail us; it was the decision makers.” In February 1965, President Johnson issued an order to start bombing North Vietnam to destroy the North`s capacity and determination to support communist rebels in South Vietnam. At the same time, military officials were not in favor of Johnson`s plans to gradually escalate the bombings and the restrictions he set forth on the three and a half year combing campaign, Operation Rolling Thunder. Instead, they believed that the United States should have started the operation with a devastating blow to the North Vietnam, enough to bring them to surrender and end the war. However, civilian decision makers were involved in the decisions regarding the operations, leaving the military in a disadvantage. The decision maker`s arguments reflected the criticism Truman`s policy received during the Korean War by General Douglas Mac Arthur, but did not repeat his insubordination. However, President Johnson found significant reasons to limit the air power in Vietnam after balancing military goals against political considerations. For starters, Johnson did not want to provoke intervention by the Chinese, which were right on the border of North Vietnam, and possessed nuclear weapons. In addition, Johnson made it a goal to “contain anti-war sentiment at home,” and to keep the Soviet Union out of the Vietnam War. At the same time, Johnson made it clear that bombing anywhere with high casualties or anywhere near the Chinese border was not allowed. He also banned air attacks on missile sites and airfields that had any chance of having Soviet Union or Chinese advisers on site, and refused to set mines in North Vietnam`s harbors, where the Soviet Union delivered goods. But by 1968, Johnson significantly increased the intensity of bombings. Between 1965 and 1968, Operation Rolling Thunder ended up dropping 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam, taking an estimated 52,000 lives, which was dramatically less than the firebombing in Japan. However, the United States Military leaders did not oppose Johnsons order`s to spare civilian lives or his refusal to bomb dams that could have destroyed the production of food. Instead, North Vietnam`s industry and transportation system became a target for the US Military. In North Vietnam, their economic development was very low, and their government`s human power made up for the demolition of their sources of transportation, power plants, and industry sites as well. During heavy bombings, thousands of North Vietnam workers and farmers worked nonstop to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail working. At the same time, they used ferries and pontoons for transportation when bridges were demolished and re built the bridges partially underwater to prevent air detection, used generators when power plants were destroyed, and built their oil facilities in the country. In South Vietnam, only 55,000 North Vietnamese soldiers engaged in sporadic fighting, which left the South not needing tremendous amounts of supplies. However, anything that was destroyed by US bombings, the North Vietnamese replaced with imports from China and the Soviet Union. China supplied small arms, ammunition, vehicles, 600,000 tons of rice, and many other needed supplies. But the Soviets were looking for influence in North Vietnam, contributing tanks, warplanes, missiles, and many sophisticated weapons. At the same time, the Soviet Union supplied over 2 billion dollars of aid to North Vietnam that made Operation Rolling Thunder difficult, including modern defense systems that made US bombings very dangerous and difficult for the pilots. Therefore, strategic bombing that had worked in WWII was put into question if it could have been just as effective in the Vietnam War.
1. Why was China and the Soviet Union competing for influence in North Vietnam and favor in the third world?
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