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... there were only a few thousand Marines in South Vietnam acting in advisory roles for the South Vietnamese military as well as protecting the approximately 100 U. ...
Of course it is very easy to look at a disaster such as the Vietnam War and second guess the judgment of our leaders after the fact. ... Many ideas on how to handle the situation in Vietnam were proposed. ...
Some of the proposed ideas floating around in 1965 included full-scale military operations, leaving Vietnam completely, combined action platoons, or the enclave strategy involving limited U. ... Hindsight gives me the unfair advantage of seeing he horrible result of the course taken by the United States in Vietnam, but I will attempt within this paper to put myself in the shoes of someone from the State Department in 1965.
Full-Scale Operations
Full-scale military action is one possible course of action to pursue in Vietnam. General Westmoreland has proposed the sending of 200,000 ground troops to Vietnam (2). ... ”
If the United States commits troops to full-scale military action in Vietnam, there is no guarantee that the 200,000 troops requested by General Westmoreland will be sufficient to complete the task. ...
Leave Vietnam Immediately
Another possible course of action would be to leave Vietnam as soon as possible. ... During Kennan’s testimony to a congressional panel, he stated that Vietnam is not a part of his theory of containment. Vietnam is of only limited interest to the United States, and this nation should “liquidate the involvement as soon as possible (4). ... These combined action platoons would provide security for pacification programs such as health care, education, and land reform which are badly needed in South Vietnam. ... It is one possible way to engage in war on a limited scale in Vietnam. ... Gavin claims this strategy will require fewer men and fewer casualties than a full-scale military engagement (6), and it is a way to get involved in Vietnam without fighting a guerilla war.
General Maxwell Taylor (Ambassador to Vietnam) is another supporter of limited warfare through the use of the enclave strategy. He proposes a limit of 95,000 troops in Vietnam (7). ... combat forces in Vietnam, and bombing North Vietnam as long as the missions do not approach the Chinese border (8).
Approximate Word count = 1836
Approximate Pages = 7.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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