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USA and Vietnam (1964 - 1975) Part 5

US bombing campaigns and their impact, 1970 - 1972
1. In 1968 peace talks had begun between the USA and N Vietnam, while Johnson was still President. N Vietnam would meet the US as long as bombing raids would stop
2. When Nixon replaced Johnson the talks continued for a further 5 years as no agreement could be met
  1. The USA wanted S Vietnam to be an independant state free from 'foreign' (communist) influence
  2. N Vietnam wanted the South to be free from 'foreign' (American) influence - if this happened North and South could be reunited
  3. There was disputes over whether S Vietnam could come as N Vietnam didn't accept it as a seperate state
  4. The USA was under pressure from it's people to end the war, unlike N Vietnam who were not accountable to their people
Continued US pressure on N Vietnam
1. Despite the Peace Talks, or the slow progress that was made; the US continued to put military pressure on N Vietnam in the hope that N Vietnam would then take the talks seriously
2. However N Vietnam continued to provide weapons to the VC through Cambodia and Laos
3. In 1970 Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia with the 'limited' objective of destroying the trail
  1. Unpopular in the US and was one of the reasons for the Kent State University Protests - The invasion also failed to close the supply route
Further bombing campaigns
1. In 1972 The NVA tried to take advantage of the reduction of US troops and invaded - Armed with Soviet tanks and artillery
  1. Nixon knew a counter-attack was not an option with the withdrawal of troops with meant the only available weapon was air power
    1. April 1971 - Nixon ordered a Massive air attack by B-52 Bombers on the North - Operation Linebacker; continuing through 1972 as peace talks continued
      1. Christmas 1972 a massive bombing campaign lasting 11 days occured with 200,000 bombs being dropped on N Vietnamese cities like Hanoi and the port of Haiphong
        To put pressure on N Vietnam to come to the peace talks, the US Administration came up with the 'Madman Theory' - they claimed that President Nixon was mentally unstable and would use nuclear weapons if the war went on much longer
        These tactics finally had their effect in January 1973 when peace talks were resumed
Vietnamisation
1. During the 1968 Presidential election campaign Nixon promised to bring home US troops as part of a general promise to end the war - But Nixon didn't want to be the President who lost the war
2. From 1969 Nixon ordered the gradual withdrawal of US forces, who would be replaced by ARVN
  1. As ARVN expanded the number of US troops decreased
  2. We men conscripted (17-43) - were trained and equipped like US troops
  3. This reduction of US troops and the growth of ARVN was known as Vietnamisation
  4. Realised that the removal of troops could stop a US victory but he wanted to lower the number of casualties due to unpopularity back home
3. Nixon claimed that he consulted the US Army Commanders but it was still unpopular in the military hierarchy
4. Appeared to be working at first as there was little communist activity from 1968 - 1972; however this was because they were recovering from the Tet offensive
  1. In 1972 the NVA invaded the South armed with Soviet Tanks, but was held up by US bombing
    1. Both sides realised the war could not be won and so peace talks began in Paris - in Jan 1973 a ceasefire was agreed and was signed by the USA, N Vietnam but not the south

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USA and Vietnam (1964 - 1975) Part 5

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	Created by Lewis Appleton-Jones almost 10 years ago