Anti-War Movement Against US Involvement In Vietnam

The Anti-War movement against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began small among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses, but gained national prominence in 1965, after the U.S. began bombing North Vietnam. Anti-war marches and protests attracted a widening base of support for the next three years, peaking in early 1968 after the successful Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese troops proved that the war’s end was nowhere in sight. Critics of the war questioned the governments assertion that it was fighting a democratic war to liberate the South Vietnamese people from Communist aggression. Most of American population still supported the administration policy in Vietnam, but there was still a small liberal minority that made its voice heard. This minority included students as well as prominent artists and intellectuals

This new offensive was much more intense than any in the previous year (105). The campaign included 13 major ground operations to clear North Vietnamese sanctuaries 20 miles inside Cambodia. The Cambodian problem is of vital importance because the enemy’s logistic system depends on use of Cambodia, and this use increases daily (117). The Cambodian port of Sihanoukville was the primary point of entry for supplies, especially arms and ammunition, destined for enemy forces in South Vietnam. Cambodian military trucks were found to be engaged in distributing the arms and ammunition landed at Sihanoukville (101). Some 50,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 30,000 U.S. troops were involved, making it the largest operation of the war. Unlike earlier offensives that had targeted population centers, this offensive struck military units and facilities (105). Nixon later reflected that the operation was the first turning point in his administrations conduct of the Vietnam War (117). According to a captured document, the most significant success of the 1969 spring offensive was that it boosted the anti-war movement in the