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Air Supremacy In Vietnam Essay

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November of 1955, America entered into the Vietnam War (aka ‘Second Indochina War’). The war was 'officially' fought between the governments of both North and South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese army was supported by the Russia and China, while the South was supported by the United States and her allies. The North Vietnamese also had the support of the Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a South Vietnamese communist common front. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam, as they viewed the conflict as a 'colonial war' against forces from France and the United States. The U.S. government viewed its involvement as part of their execution of the 'Cold War containment policy …show more content…

Air supremacy was established – yet America lost the war. Over 50 years now, we have had many military scholars attempt to analysis the root cause. Unfortunately, lack of public support for the campaign, a resilient enemy, and excessive political interference are some of the major factors that have been put forward for the failure of airpower to deliver victory. President Johnson had a multitude of ‘impacting objectives’ that prevented him from applying massive military force in Vietnam. Achieving the ‘Great Society’ (programs aimed at reducing poverty and achieving racial equality) became one of those ‘impacting objective’ for Johnson. Johnson believed that the American people could only focus and support on one major project – either the ‘Great Society’ or ‘Vietnam War’. Therefore, he felt he could not applying extensive military force which may have lead to the loss of public focus and support for the ‘Great Society’. He also feared that applying “extensive military force” against North Vietnam could escalate into another World War – communist vs anti-communist state actors. Excessive political

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