THE END OF THE COLD
WAR
USA’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE VIETNAM WAR
NOZIBUSISO MASINGA
FEBRUARY 16 2025
The Cold War
The Vietnam War (1955–1975) was the first televised war, making its brutal realities
visible to the world. It was a key event in the Cold War, driven by the ideological
struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. The USA feared the domino
theory and as a result, the USA supported South Vietnam, while the Soviet Union and
China supported North Vietnam. Despite deploying troops, ammunition, and financial
aid, the USA failed to stop the spread of communism. This essay will argue, to a large
extent, that the United States was unsuccessful in containing communism due to North
Vietnam’s effective guerrilla warfare, peasant support, home-ground advantage, and
increasing anti-war sentiment within the USA.
The United States had long followed a policy of splendid isolation, avoiding involvement
in foreign conflicts. However, they were eventually compelled to intervene in the
Vietnam War for two key reasons: the fear of the domino theory; that if Vietnam fell to
communism, other nations in Southeast Asia would follow (Indo-China; Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam) as well as the opportunity to gain influence in South Vietnam by exploiting
the unpopularity of its leader, Ngo Dinh Diem. However, this strategy backfired
disastrously. Between 1954 and 1960, the USA had been sending aid equipment and
military advisors to assist South Vietnamese under the rule of President Kennedy.
Contradictory the total shift when Lyndon B Johnson became president steered the ship
of doom leading to the failure of the USA in containing the spread of communism.
On 1964, a US ship was torpedoed in North Vietnamese waters and this was known as
the Gulf of Tonkin. US made this their scapegoat as to join the war. President Lyndon
deployed 500 000 troops in Vietnam to try and contain the spread of communism. This
led to him introducing a bombing offensive known as Operation Rolling Thunder which
was a massive US bombing campaign to weaken the communist government. Despite
the use of bombing campaigns, the Vietcong’s use of underground tunnels made it easy
for them to avoid any harm during all of this because the US was only bombing above
the ground. This event marks an example of the US failing to contain the spread of
communism as their fighting tactics was failing and the USSR backed Vietcong was
winning.
The Vietcong, determined and highly adaptable, employed guerrilla warfare, widely
regarded as one of the most difficult and unpredictable forms of combat in history. Their
tactics including booby traps, ambushes, and hit-and-run attacks allowed them to inflict
heavy damage while avoiding direct confrontation with US forces. The Vietcong were
dressed like peasants making it nearly impossible for American troops to distinguish
enemy fighters from civilians. These unconventional warfare methods significantly
weakened the US military’s effectiveness, contributing to their ultimate failure in
containing communism. Killing a single Vietcong soldier would cost the USA millions of
dollars because of their hit and run. The use of the Cu Chi Tunnels that were used to
hide and store supplies. Therefore it is evident that the USA was struggling to defeat the
Vietcong further emphasizing the idea that the USA failed to contain the spread of
communism.
What the US failed to understand is that the Vietcong were not only at home ground
advantage (this meant it was easier for the Vietcong to attack the USA as they were
familiar to the jungle and the USA was not used to fighting a faceless enemy) and the
fact that they could never have won the war because the Vietcong had the support of
the peasants which were the majority. In desperate attempts to gain the support of the
majority, the USA introduced WHAM (winning the hearts and minds) a strategy to win
the villagers hearts by supplying food and medical supplies. However when they
introduced chemical bombs such as Agent Orange (which was used to destroy the
jungle around the Ho Chi Minh trail), Agent Blue (used to destroy Vietcong’s food
supplies) and even the Napalm which was a chemical that burnt flesh to the bone it
drew the peasants support even further away from them because all these bombs were
targeted to everyone, despite introducing the WHAM. This rejection by the people
encouraged them to aid the Vietcong during the war. They would donate their doors to
rebuild roads and volunteer to be watchmen for the trucks coming through the Ho Chi
Minh trail. Consequently it can be argued that the USA’s attempts to increase its
influence in Vietnam only decreased its overall popularity.
As the war dragged on, it became gradually unpopular to American citizens and other
international countries as they argued the futility of the war. Numerous protests and
politicians argued for the withdrawal of USA troops. The lack of support by the people of
the US forced their hand in their withdrawal in the war. They protested on the huge
amounts of money spent on the war instead of domestic issues as a result President
Richard Nixon introduced, Vietnamization which essentially meant the USA admitted
defeat and decided to put the blame or the whole load of war on the South Vietnamese
army. This indirect admission of defeat was the final nail in the coffin on the USA’s
failure to contain communism.
On the other hand it may be argued that the US was successful in containing
communism, its partial success should be recognized. Even though it failed in Vietnam,
other countries like Laos and Cambodia as well as Indonesia remained anti- communist.
They were also successful in weakening the Vietcong as they suffered heavy causalities
and was unable to deliver a knockout blow. However this speaks to the intensity of the
Vietcong that America had to use so much effort in order to deliver these effects.
In conclusion, the Vietnam war can be seen as a failure for the USA as they were
humiliated by the Vietcong and their failure to contain the spread of communism and
this essay has clearly given or stated events that agree with the notion.