interview
...nam is) the cornerstone of the free world in Southeast Asia, the keystone to the arch, the finger in the dike.”(Kennedy Speech, June 1956) The security of the countries around Vietnam are at stake because if Vietnam doesn’t remain free, countries around it will result to communism also because their governments aren’t strong either. As soon as “the reds” overflow Vietnam, they will want to overflow countries around Vietnam such as Laos, India, Burma, Thailand, etc. Their countries are weaker and Vietnam being stopped will relieve these countries. “We seek an independent, non-communist South Vietnam...unless we can achieve this objective in South Vietnam...” (National Security Memorandum, 2/17/64) We need to keep vietnam from danger. South Vietnam is the place to start because the Viet Cong are taking over villages etc and it all needs to start in the south. While trying to keep Vietnam from going communistic, we’re trying to make it a democratic environment, so it’s safe, independent, and not fixed elections, controlled press and radio etc. “At the present moment in the world history nearly every nation much choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.” (Truman Doctrine, 3/12/47) There are two main ways of life, democracy and communism. Countries often make the mistake of making the wrong decision when it comes to those two ways of life. They often side with communism because it’s not expensive and running the government is easy and it works. The bad thing about it is it’s not free and not independent. No one has enough rights to live a decent life, and that’s why the United States is in Vietnam, to change that. “ (Vietnam is) a proving ground for democracy in Asia…a test of American responsibility and the determination in Asia…” (Kennedy, June 1956) It’s not that democracy is our biggest deal, it’s that communism is a threat and sending in troops is our first look. Our approach is to send troops there at once. Send troops into South and North Vietnam in waves, yearlong waves. Making this our theory of getting Vietnam, it will make everything quicker and it will get the job done in a heartbeat. If we go into slowly and control the risks, the Viet Cong will just tear us apart. We need educate ourselves about the Vietnam culture and their way of life and then we need to send our troops in at full force, not necessarily all-out war but take control until it is a democratic environment in there starting with the south. The freedom of millions of people in Vietnam are in danger because people want to convert Vietnam to communism and their freedom will be immediately lost. “The freedom of 12 million people would be lost immediately and that of 150 million other in adjacent lands would be seriously endangered. (Dwight Eisenhower, April, 1954 and 1959) Sending troops quickly into Vietnamese lands will diminish the danger from big to small because we will provide security for the people and protect their freedom and create their government strictly around freedom and safety. Building a strategy around making a statement and not showing off. Going into Vietnam with knowledge is key because every troop in Vietnam must understand...