Why did the US pullout of Vietnam?

Answer 1

Without widening the war with other countries (Laos and Cambodia) or risking a confrontation with the Communist Superpowers...the war was unwinnable.

Answer 2

President Nixon had been elected on a promise to Vietnamize the war, meaning more fighting would be turned over to the South Vietnamese army, and to start bringing home American troops. When the President ordered US troops into Cambodia and ordered more bombings, the result was a tremendous uproar at home with more marches and demonstrations. Congress reacted to the antiwar feeling and repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the President the authority to send troops and fight the war in Vietnam. The United States did not lose the Vietnam War. Although some may argue that by pulling out of South Vietnam we did just that. In 1972, North Vietnam finally realized that the war was a stalemate. The two sides met and arranged a cease fire. In January of 1973 the Paris Accords went into effect. The US agreed to withdraw all its troops from Vietnam in 60 days. Congress had stopped funding the war effort. The North Vietnamese government agreed to release all prisoners, which they never did. Free elections were to be held in Vietnam. The President of South Vietnam considered the agreement between North Vietnam and the US as a sell out. But it allowed President Nixon to save face and bring the soldiers home. By 1975, after US troops had been pulled out of South Vietnam, the ARVN (Army of the Republic of South Vietnam) collapsed and the North Vietnamese moved into Saigon, ending the war and finalizing the take over of the South by the North. Our purpose in the war is debated to this day.

Answer 3

The Vietnam War was the first US experience of losing a war, that is to say...not gaining a victory; consequently, the US was new at this type of procedure. Therefore, President Nixon tried to withdraw from the war with "honor"; he bombed and invaded Cambodia (1970) and Laos (1971), and negotiated a return of our POW's, and then we departed. Those procedures were necessary, because in part, North Vietnam held probably close to a thousand US Airmen as POW/MIA's.

Answer 4

Vietnam was the 2nd "hot" battle of the cold war. Korea was the 1st "hot" battle of the cold war. The communists could be contained in Korea, because that country is a peninsula. The US Navy controlled the ocean surrounding that country, therefore the communists could only resupply with men & material directly across the Red Chinese border; easily controlled by US/Allied forces with "Firepower." The US/Allied forces were able to hold the "line" at the 38th Parallel, which still exists today. Vietnam was NOT a peninsula. Communist men & material continued to flow into South Vietnam, via many routes, but primarily the vaunted "Ho Chi Minh Trail"; which despite being bombed into a lunar landscape, could not be controlled. The only way to eliminate or control the infiltration point(s) was to directly (officially) involve the neutral countries of Laos and/or Cambodia. This would escalate the war, adding one to two more countries to the conflict. Secondly, and most important, the communist superpowers; Red China & the Soviet Union could possibly become directly involved in the war. This was a real possibility; Red China had ENTERED the Korean War (1950-1953) when US/Allied forces "invaded" North Korea. The US was determined not to allow that to happen again. Thus, with no way of stopping the flow of communist men/supplies. We "attritted them" in place. "Body Count" became a way of life for the GI's trying to eliminate communists forces. We couldn't eliminate them all, they just kept coming down that trail...the price in GI blood was becoming too high to pay; so it had to end.

Answer 5

South Vietnamese government were totally out of control and corrupted. They're being divided and troops losing spirits. US casualties\^^/

Answer 6

Unwinable; without expanding the war into neighboring countries to control the flow of men & material, the war would last forever. Expanding the war was not an option.

Answer 7

America pulled out of Vietnam because of mounting casualties and public disaproval of the war.

Answer 8

Without widening the war with other countries (Laos and Cambodia) or risking a confrontation with the Communist Superpowers...the war was unwinnable.