Why were some USA citizens against the Vietnam war?

Answer 1

Opposition to Vietnam WarThe criticism of the war in Vietnam started out mainly as a conservative reaction to President Johnson's policy of fighting for a limited purpose, a negotiated peace, rather than all out victory in Vietnam. Those critics included Senator Barry Goldwater, retired military men, and even some extreme members of the John Birch Society. These people were known as "hawks." As the President escalated the war effort, and became a hawk himself, his chief critics became known as "doves" and included antiwar protesters, college students and faculty, liberal Democrats, and many other people in various walks of life who felt that the war was immoral, dragging on to no benefit for the US, and was causing increased casualty lists to mount. Many believed the US was fighting a war against the wishes of the majority of the Vietnamese people. These critics felt the war was a civil war in Vietnam between north and south and we had no business interfering. Some supported the communist effort in Vietnam and hoped for a defeat of the "imperialist capitalist" United States. Many Americans felt we were fighting a small, unimportant county, while the real enemy was China and the Soviet Union. There were many demonstrations against the war which took the form of sit ins in college and high school campuses, marches both for and against the war, and editorials written for and against the war. One of the most infamous demonstrations took place at Kent State University, 1970, when National Guard troops fired on Kent State students and protesters and four were killed and eleven were wounded. Nixon had been elected on a promise to Vietnamize the war, meaning more fighting would be turned over to the South Vietnamese army, and to start bringing home American troops. When the President ordered US troops into Cambodia and ordered more bombings, the result was a tremendous uproar at home with more marches and demonstrations. Congress reacted to the antiwar feeling and repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the President the authority to send troops and fight the war in Vietnam. Our purpose in the war is debated to this day.

Historical note:

Vietnam was a part of French occupied IndoChina. After World War II, independence movements began, along with Communist expansion. In 1954, the French lost the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu, which led to the French abandonment of the colony. Vietnam was split between the Communist North and the western-supported South.

Rather than leave the Vietnamese to their own devices, the USA took over where France left off, fearing a "domino effect"; i.e. if Vietnam fell to the Communists, then the whole of South-east Asia would be vulnerable. The Americans had had a Pacific presence in the west Pacific during World War II and they were still highly influential in the politics of Japan and the Philipines; so it seemed natural to them to intervene in Vietnam. Perhaps, this was the USA's great mistake; since the Vietnam War proved to be an ordeal for the Americans. But some still reckon that the domino theory was correct since, even though the South "fell", the spread of Communism in SE Asia was halted. But arguably other factors, such as Thai Nationalism and Indonesian Islam would anyway have resisted the "Red Peril".

Answer 2

Because the mobilization of military reserves was considered "upping the ante" during the cold war; Vietnam was fought by draftees or volunteers that joined because they were going to be drafted anyway, and were hoping for a better deal if they enlisted first. Therefore, US citizens opposed the war, because they didn't want to be drafted into military service. People do not normally care about someone else's problem(s)...until they are involved; then they care!

Answer 3

Many Americans didn't support the Vietnam War because they didn't feel that America should have gotten involved. They did not believe that it was America's place to involve themselves in another countries issues.

Answer 4

one answer:

Many Americans of the 1960s generation had no idea why we were fighting in Vietnam, since the Vietnamese had never attacked us. Unlike World War II, which had a clear villain and a clear purpose (defeating the Nazis and keeping Hitler from ruling the world), the purpose for going over to Vietnam was never entirely certain. Our involvement in what was then Indo-China began quietly under President Eisenhower in the 1950s, and then, the war escalated during the 1960s, much to the surprise of many Americans. We were told we were fighting Communism, but young people (who were being drafted to go fight there) did not believe the war was worth it, nor did they see a reason for our involvement. As the death tolls mounted and it became obvious that the US government was not being totally honest (nor even partially honest) about why we were there or whether we were winning, opposition to the war began to grow. To this day, many historians and many of us Baby Boomers believe the War in Vietnam was a disastrous mistake.

another answer:

The Vietnamese war was the last gasp of Imperialism in Vietnam. And many Americans recognized that the Viets no longer were going to suffer with the jackboot of unbridled capitalism on their necks. It was all started by the mistreatment of plantation and other workers by the Michelin rubber company. Pretty soon every one was in it and in the end the last Americans left by helicopter from a rooftop.

Answer 5

US citizens didn't like the war, because they were being drafted to fight it.

Answer 6

They didn't want to be drafted into the military; 40,000 men a month in 1968!

Answer 7

They feared the military draft. If it wasn't for the draft, they didn't care who went to Vietnam...because they KNEW that who ever went there...VOLUNTEERED!

Answer 8

The draft.