HIST 3580

Dec 20
The End of Direct American Involvement in Vietnam
Recall, we left off with the failure of Operation Lam Son 719 (ARVN invasion of Laos) &, by
extension, the apparent failure of Vietnamization
 1972: in the aftermath of this, Hanoi was anxious to exploit the evident weakness of the
ARVN & the w/d’ing of the last American troops
o Nixon’s visit to CHN also alarming to Hanoi, so they wanted to engage in their
offensive quickly
 Even the Russians were making deals w/ WSH (also alarming to Hanoi)
incl. peace treaties concerning Berlin, armaments agreements pertaining to
nukes, grain deals
 WSH makes it in the Russians’ interest to take a step bk from
Hanoi
N. VIE launches a 3-pronged offensive in late MR 1972 (“Easter offensive”)
1. PAVN troops attack ‘cross the DMZ t/w Hu Wei (sp.)
2. 2 PAVN divisions come down the Ho Trail & cross into the C. highlands from CAM and
attack the city of Con Tum (sp.)
3. Another 2 PAVN divisions attack ‘cross the Cambodian frontier in the dir. of Saigon
All three of the above listed attacked cities are quite major
Results:
1. ARVN troops are removed from the northern provinces
2. Con Tum completely surrounded by PAVN
a. NLF also takes the coastal province immediately E. of Con Tum (Bid Din [sp.])
3. Saigon threatened
USA responds by launching an all-out air offensive – the majority of its B-52 force from Guam
& THL is deployed
 Introduces new attack carrier formations in the Gulf of Tonkin (loaded w/ planes to
provide support to the B-52s)
 US naval forces also use their artillery, particularly against the Communists attacking
‘cross the DMZ
 US also launched fighter bomber attacks against targets in both N. & S. VIE, as well as
CAM & LAO  this operation was named Linebacker (meaning USA is backing up
ARVN)
 USA also lays mines in Haiphong (sp.) to cripple the resupplying of N. VIE by the SU
By fall 1972, Communist forces are forced to fall back primarily due to this strong American
response: driven back from the N.-ern provinces ‘cross the DMZ, their attempt to take Con Tum
fails, as does their attempt to break through t/w Saigon
No visible antiwar protesting in the USA against this – air warfare waged by Nixon was basically
accepted completely by American public opinion
 AU 22, 1972: last American combat troops were w/d’n from S. VIE
American combat losses = 53K dead, 300K wounded
By OC, 1972, Henry Kissinger and Li Dok Toh (sp.) [the lead negotiator for the N. VIEese]
came to a peace agreement
 Terms:
o Hanoi forced to agree that Gen. Tu would remain in power
o Kissinger had to agree that the PRG (created by NLF in 1969) would be
recognized as having political status
o W/i 60 days of the ceasefire, Hanoi would hand over all American POWs held in
N. VIE.
o USA gave up their demand that the PAVN leave S. VIE
 This was perhaps the most significant concession, as the USA had
demanded this all throughout the war
o Both sides agreed to a 3-part commission composed of reps of the Republic of
VIE, reps of the PRG, and various neutral parties in S. VIE
 This commission was to supervise the implementation of this agreement,
and then make arr. for elections in S. VIE
 Kissinger had tried to get the DRV to agree that terms be est. for peace in CAM & LAO
at the same t, but Hanoi was not interested, they wanted the agreement exclusively to deal
with VIE
 This was indeed the agreement under the terms of which, USA exited VIE altogether
 Tu refused to accept the terms, accusing Kissinger and the USA of selling out S. VIE
o Kissinger predicted that the communists would takeover, but saw this as an opp.
for USA to save face
o Kissinger advised Nixon to sign the agreement w/o Tu’s consent (given that he
has no leverage in the situation)
 Nixon rejected that advice (frankly, surprising), feeling he had to do more
to entice Tu
 Offers $10 B of new milt equip (Operation Enhance) – which
Americans did deliver on
Nixon won a huge victory in the 1972 election
Hanoi expected WSH to force Gen. Tu to accept, so angrily, they ceased peace negotiations in
mid-DE 1972
  Nixon retaliates by ordering a second air offensive that defeated the Communist offensive
in the spring: Linebacker II
o This offensive is even stronger, & specifically targets Hanoi and Haiphong
 This “Christmas bombing” seems to have been the key to getting the N. to begrudgingly
accept
 Final peace came in JA 27, 1973 (Paris Peace Accords)
o USA forces Tu to accept under the threat of cutting off all further assistance
o USA, DRV, PRG, & Rep. of VIE all sign
o Nixon declared that the USA had achieved “peace with honour”
 Somewhat T, but since PAVN forces were est. in S. VIE, it was inevitable
that the communists would eventually take over
 ARVN could not match the NLF & PAVN, no matter how well-
equipped, w/o the USA
The cost of the Vietnam War to the USA
 Casualties: American combat losses = 53K dead, 300K wounded
 End of postwar (WWII, that is) American economic prosperity
o Consumerism & the mass production of its industry & its dominance over the
“free world” made USA an unprecedentedly prosperous nation
 Workers were (largely) making not only a living wage, but a good wage
o From this pt on, real wages either stagnated or declined
 Massively widening economic inequality from this pt until the present
o Iran, VEN, and other Third World countries formed OPEC, dramatically
increasing the P of oil, which in addition to runaway inflation, was the beginning
of serious ECON’c problems in the USA
 Reagan introduced neoliberal policies to restore American capitalist
stability
 Deepening divisions in the USA: the war had brought to the surface and stoked deep
conflicts concerning racial inequality
 The end of progressive politics: FDR  Truman  JFK  LBJ
o This is now over, replaced by RW predominance, hello Racist Ronnie
 Created deep distrust in the US gov’t
o Hitherto, Americans believed in the goodness of their leaders: LBJ and Nixon
both helped to create this distrust
 “Vietnam Syndrome”  American public rejected any further direct American
involvement in wars in the Third World
o Only v. slowly did the neocons overcome this VIE syndrome
 Reagan’s invasion of Grenada in 1983 was what finally threw this off
 Then Bush I invaded Panama, then the Gulf War in 1991
o Thenceforth, the neocons were back in business
 VIE War led to a proliferation of Third World revolutions of all kinds – Angola,
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia, Namibia, Chile, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Afghanistan, Iran, etc.
o Many of these were inspired by a Third World brand of Marxism
o US still did what they could in light of VIE Syndrome to support contras (funded
& trained by USA) in fighting against third world revolutions
 Drones as well deployed in counterrevolutionary wars
 During the VIE war, the SU built up their navy, nuke forces  achieved strategic parity
w/ USA while they were distracted in Indochina
o Under Racist Ronnie, “Star Wars” was launched