Operation Vulture Research Paper

The Vietnam region was filled with violence and exterior governing powers at first with China, then by the French in the late XVIII century when the French Indonesia was created. Slowly in the early XIX century, nationalist groups started to emerged to ask for more self-governance and get rid of French imperialism. One of the main group was the Viet Minh, led by their Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

However during the second World War II, when France lost to Nazi Germany, the territories became occupied by Japanese forces. The Viet Minh fought against the Japanese occupation and managed to realise significant sabotage operations. When Japan surrendered, the Japanese forces present on Vietnamese soil gave weapons to the Vietnamese guerillas and

In response, the US started to provide additional heavy weaponry to the French and help train local Vietnamese. By 1954, the US provided over 300 000 small arms and was bearing most of the cost of war, 80%, over US$1 Billion was spent. Despite US support, the French were losing the war, the situation was getting so desperate that the French and the US planned “Operation Vulture”. Operation Vulture was a desperate plan where the use of 3 nuclear ogives was

A cease fire was negotiated at the Geneva Conference and the Independence of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were recognized. However, Vietnam was temporarily partitioned between North Vietnam, controlled by Ho’s Viet Minh, and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The Geneva accords also stipulated that free elections were to be held in 1956 and Vietnam reunified. At this point of time the Us’s foreign policy was dominated by the Domino Theory, which feared that the fall of North Vietnam to communism will led the rest southeast Asia to convert to communism. Therefore, a year before the elections the United States of America started to support and offer assistance to the anti-Communist politician Ngo Dinh Diem, who took control of South Vietnam in 1955. From April to June 1955 he eliminated any form of political opposition in his controlled region of South Vietnam, often using the military. Diem then cancelled the 1956’s scheduled elections and declared the Republic of Vietnam. Instead he held his own referendum limited to the southern region of Vietnam. Diem rigged the poll using intimidation and fraud. The referendum was successful with over 98% of the vote in favor of Diem and the new group in power removed the Vietnam monarch Bao Dai. Diem established the Army of the Republic of Vietnam with the help of CIA’s