10 - Background Paragraph

Topic: Background about the Vietnam War.

In 1964, the United States entered into conflict in Vietnam due to multiple reasons such as Cold War paranoia and the inability of France to continue to commit financially and militarily in the region. The course and impact of the war have been a polemic issue in the histories of both countries involved as well as in the global sphere. As historian Howard Zinn stated, “From 1964 to 1972, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world made a maximum military effort, with everything short of atomic bombs, to defeat a nationalist revolutionary movement in a tiny, peasant country-and failed. When the United States fought in Vietnam, it was organized modern technology versus organized human beings, and the human beings won.” (Zinn, 689). This quote further displays the importance and extent of the Vietnam War (known as the American War in Vietnam). The war was technically fought between the communists in the North and a Democratic Republic in the South. However, the Vietnamese of today recognize the illegitimacy of the Democratic government as it was set up and supported by the United States in the form of an ineffective and religiously anti-Buddhist leader in Ngo Dinh Diem (Burns 0:30). As the aforementioned quote from historian Howard Zinn displays, when the smoke of the Vietnam War cleared, a peasant nation had defeated and embarrassed the richest country (and largest military) in the world. The communists in the North had, in their eyes, defeated the mightiest power on the planet. The U.S. to this date still classifies the results of the war as “Peace with honor” as opposed to admitting defeat.
There were many mistakes made on the part of the United States that led to their withdrawal from this war. The United States felt that their presence in this war was essential to the stability of the world due to the rise in communism at the time (Gaddis 63) but what they failed to factor in was the popularity of Socialist and Communist movements globally in agrarian societies due to the consistent promise of land reform and equality for peasantry (Burns 0:21). The United States also made tactical mistakes in programs such as the “Strategic Hamlet Program” of displacing or “relocating the Vietnamese for safety reasons” (Lawson 65), and their use of enemy body counts as a measurement for success, which, inadvertently led to unnecessary violence by US troops (Gaddis 91) by her own people. In short, for the United States, this war was costly not only in economic factors, but also in self image, national pride, and faith in government. It is factors such as these that have been represented (accurately or falsely) that make The Vietnam War a highly controversial issue in U.S. History.

Word Count: 471


NOTICE THE CHANGES from the sample today. both paragraphs are properly cited. both have a clear topic sentence. I have INCLUDED the citations by using my own sentences to introduce and summarize their meaning and purpose...and finally, yes Neph...i separated them into two different paragraphs to better organize the topics.

So...for our next class, you need to complete, print and hand in ALL of your background paragraphs for the essay!!! YAAAAY!