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The USA involved itself in the Vietnam War because they wrongly interpreted a nationalist civil war as an extension of the domino theory. The Americans had a strong belief that the war was being fought to spread communism around the world. The US gradually became more involved as the fear of communism spread, but involved themselves entirely in 154 after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Because of the mentality of the cold war, the fall of China to communism and the Korean War; they believed that it was just another communist movement when in actual truth, the Vietnamese wanted to gain control over their country. The USA could not see that the Vietnamese communists were just as much nationalists, they interpreted it as a world wide communist movement, and this then created a war that would persist for many years.
The US was against signing the Geneva agreement for two reasons, one was that they didn't agree with their proposals, which were to prohibit foreign troops into Vietnam, the independence of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a temporary division with a cease-fire line 17 degrees north, general elections and that the people of Vietnam could choose which side of the cease-fire line they wanted to live on, and two, neither sides could trust each other to adhere to the agreement. Along with the cease-fire line, they agreed upon a demilitarized zone to be established about 5km on either side of the line to avoid any incidents from occurring.
The Geneva Accords was thought to be a "disaster" according to confidential National Security Council records in Washington, (Allan R. Millet, p1) all because the US did not want to join in the proposals. Although they agreed to not use force to disturb the settlement just because they were not "bound" by the accords.
The US were so strongly against the agreements as they believed that putting in a cease-fire and a demilitarized zone, they could lose to communism as they would not be able to prohibit anything from happening over in North Vietnam. As far as they saw, it was an attempt to spread communism and to expand the domino theory. (Allan R. Millet P14-6)
The issue, seen by the US and other Western participants, was freedom vs. communism not colonialism vs. nationalism (Allan R. Millet p14) at the time of the Geneva Accords in July 154, as the recollections of the Korean War and China's fall to communism were still in their minds.
The US involved themselves in the Vietnam War, when they were originally there to assist mostly because of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which took place in August 164. It was an attack from North Vietnamese torpedo boats that allegedly attacked two ships of the US navy. As a result American President at the time, Lyndon Johnson could provide enough proof to the US congress to show that the Vietminh were provoking the US. This allowed Johnson to send nearly 500 000 US troops to North Vietnam and take whatever steps necessary to help South Vietnam win the fight against communism.
There was an additional attack on a US military advisers compound at Pleiku on February 7th 165 that forced the United States to bring in a quick air strike against the North. Making it the second bombing attack on the North Vietminh since their sudden involvement with the Gulf of Tonkin. Eight Americans were killed with 10 wounded.
The Americans demand to North Vietnam to stop the bombing was for the abandonment of North Vietnams infiltration into the South, which they called "foreign aggression" and in turn the North Vietnamese demanded for the Americans to surrender their objectives in the South. (Allan R. Millet p6) The Americans took it as a path for a communist takeover, this is why from then on they persevered in stopping what they thought was the attempt at spreading communism world wide.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident of 164 intensified the Vietnam War as it allowed President Lyndon Johnson to bring armed attack into the war, changing the US into being there to assist to being the main rival. This was the US strategist's first opportunity to confront North Vietnam with American air power.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred on the nd and 4th of August 164. The incident was the cause for the US sudden involvement in the War as the attack was said to be "an unprovoked attack". As it allowed Johnson to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US, to prevent further aggression, bombing began as soon as it could after the incident. The attack began just 6 hours after the second attack.
The Gulf of Tonkin was said to provide "ex post facto congressional endorsement of the order and blanket authority for further action." (Allan R. Millet p4) This "unprovoked attack" was later revealed to be an excuse to bomb the North. ""The attack on the destroyers was not as clear-cut an incident as portrayed. (Allan R. Millet p1)
The Gulf of Tonkin incident intensified the war to a great extent, as it was able to permit the US to attack the North, as they had wanted to do for an extensive amount of time and it also formed the beginning for President Lyndon Johnson's rhetoric escalation of the war.
The US and its allies persisted to attempt the prevention of the spread of communism, hoping to put a stop to the domino theory so that no other countries would fall to communism. Their mission to avert the expansion of communism pursued for 16 years.
From 157-175, the communists believed in having a classless society. It appealed greatly to the Vietnamese as for 60 years they had been ruled by traditional rulers and were unable to sufficiently organize their own country to withstand the French. This is why the North Vietnamese never gave up the struggle to keep communism.
Many diverse ways of communism prevention were used. As all the presidents from 154 through to 17 were influenced by the domino theory, this, to the US, became the main cause of the war and their involvement. They feared it so powerfully that they convinced the majority of the US population that if communism were defeated, everything would be better in the world. The NATO troops were told by President Eisenhower that if Europe fell to communism, "many economical dependent areas in Africa and the middle east would be affected by this debacle. South-East Asia would probably soon be lost." (J. Justin Gustainis p) Only later to see that Indochina was in fact the first "domino" to fall. Communism became an "article of faith" among the American presidents in the post-war era.
The US also created SEATO, which was a treaty, established to use force against communist aggression. The USA still wasn't recognizing that it was an attempt at a huge nationalist movement and not a communist movement. The minds of the presidents were all focused on "the domino theory" and nothing else; they believed that this was the one and only aspect to the never-ending disaster.
The domino theory caused the continuation of the war through till 17 as the US had persuaded themselves that this was the reason for the 16 years of fighting in the Vietnam War. "The domino theory, under one name or another became an article of faith among American president's in the post war era." (J. Justin Gustainis p8) Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson all believed strongly in the domino theory, it wasn't until Nixon came into presidency that it started to change and the main focus of the war was "Peace with Honor." The other presidents were not wanting any more domino's to fall as when China fell to communism, it effected the American political scene, leading to accusations of America's political right.
Due to the diem Bien Phu and the division of Vietnam into two nations at the Geneva Conference, it caused president Eisenhower to bring the domino theory into further action, not knowing if the first piece of the domino's had fallen, because of the communist victory in Diem Bien Phu. They were unsure as to whether the rest of Asia would follow or not. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles said that " The theory was still valid" and that ‘North Vietnam was not the first element in the chain. Rather, the crucial domino was in the South." (J. Justin Gustainis p10) Only if the Saigon government fell to communism would the rest of Asia fall.
Year after year, the domino theory was brought into the war, claiming it to be the foundation of the American Policy in Vietnam. All the presidents and followers unhesitatingly backed the domino theory; there was no disagreement on the perception. Other views were not considered, such as the CIA's report estimating the credible effects that a communist triumph in Vietnam would have on the rest of the world, which stated that "no nation in the area would quickly succumb to communism" and that "any spread which did take place would take time." (J. Justin Gustainis p1) Showing that the domino theory, although may have been important in some aspects of the Vietnam War, but it definitely shouldn't have been the focal point of the war.
The USA initially involved themselves in the Vietnam War, as they had a strong belief that it was a communist movement, an expansion on the domino theory. It wasn't until 17 that the US political leaders were busy promising their people that the domino theory had never really been a valid concept after all. (J. Justin Gustainis p14) Asia was not about to experience predictable communist subversion, and the beginning of a new period of peace would only bring good things to the nation that had tried so rigorously to gain freedom. Showing that the assumptions behind the domino theory were never questioned and it was more a state of mind than a theory. The world was stubbornly hesitant to change. The domino theory was not just a procedure of presidential influence straight to the community but also the way of which some presidents influenced themselves.
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