THE LIES EXPOSED
TRUMAN PROVIDES LARGE SCALE MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO THE FRENCH, 1950
ACTS OF WARFARE AGAINST NORTH VIETNAM UNDER THE EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION BEGINNING IN 1954
Truman had reason to believe in the Domino Theory-- the theory that Laos, Cambodia, and the entirety of Indochina faced the danger of falling to communism given the instability of Vietnam.
By 1950, China had already fallen to communism under Mao Zedong, further pressuring the US to try to intervene in Indochina by proving that when the US does not intervene, communism will prevail. [18]
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Lastly, the Papers disclose that this decision ultimately set the course of American policy in Vietnam and furthermore directly involved the US in the war: “although the decision 'vas not perceived as getting the U.S. more deeply ‘involved’ in Indochina, it did mark a tangible first step in that direction”. [21]
In 1954, following the Geneva Accords which constituted the withdrawal of French and US troops from Vietnam, the US made the decision to help reinforce South Vietnam which was in danger of falling to the new Communist regime of the North.
This decision gave the Eisenhower Administration a “direct role in the ultimate breakdown of the Geneva settlement for Indochina in 1954”. [22] Through this decision, the US became the primary influence in Vietnam and the containment of Communism in Vietnam became the most urgent concern of US foreign policy.
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According to the report filed in the Papers, the Administration “was determined that Vietnam would become politically sound, economically self-sufficient, and militarily capable of providing for its own internal security, coping with invasion from North Vietnam”. [23]
General J. Lawton Collins arrives in Vietnam a short while later, and, with the support of France, is given the broad authority to coordinate all US programs in Vietnam. By 1955, the US has begun training Vietnamese forces and France has begun to slowly remove itself from Vietnam. [24]
"You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences"
The Truman Administration’s reaction to this fear of communism spreading in Indochina was to provide a substantial amount of military equipment to the French to aid in their war against the Communist Viet Minh in Vietnam.
According to the Pentagon study, this decision was made “in spite of the U.S. desire to avoid direct involvement in a colonial war, and in spite of a sensing that France's political-military situation in Indochina was bad and was deteriorating” [19]. The report goes on to state that this act of aid to the French was not only unwise for obvious reasons, but it also undermined the important ‘anti-colonial’ stance (an aspect of Realpolitik) taken by the US after World War II. [20]
-President Eisenhower, 1954
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER GIVING SPEECH
THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION AND THE COUP TO OVERTHROW PRESIDENT DIEM IN SOUTH VIETNAM
The Kennedy Administration made the decision to support the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, thus becoming much more heavily involved in maintaining the stability of the South Vietnamese government. This ultimately dragged the US deeper into the war, as the US felt that it had a responsibility to maintain order in South Vietnam and ensure the well-being of succeeding South Vietnamese governments. [25]
THE TONKIN GULF CRISIS
US Troops Arrive in Vietnam, 1965
According to the Pentagon Papers, the US military had already been engaging in military attacks against the North Vietnamese forces prior to the Gulf of Tonkin attack, therefore it was not provoked.
In addition, the Johnson Administration had prepared what became know as the 'Tonkin Resolutions' prior to the event and was prepared to enact the document as an equivalent to a declaration of war. In fact, according to Sheehan's expose published in 1971, The Johnson "Administration was able to order retaliatory air strikes on less than six hours' notice during the Tonkin incident" due to prior planning and mapping out of possible targets. [26]
However, the Gulf of Tonkin Crisis was presented to the American public as an unprovoked attack by the North Vietnamese, in the hopes of gaining more support from the American public regarding US involvement in Vietnam. [27]​
US secretary of defense McNamara, explaining gulf of tonkin retaliatory plans
General Maxwell D. Taylor, Secretary of Defense, Robert mcnamara, and President Kennedy meeting in the white house
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER
Operation Rolling Thunder, a bombing campaign designed to aid South Vietnam in the Vietnam War, was mostly shielded from the American public in an attempt to downplay the large amount of destruction and collateral damage it caused. The campaign also extended into the jungles of Cambodia and Laos, neighboring countries of Vietnam. [28]
ti-84 dropping napalm bombs, operation rolling thunder