The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Cold War (A Synopsis) - Part IV - Sep 23rd, 2004

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[SAMWolf]

Vietnam: 1954-1968

DIVIDED

For eight years, Vietnam was a colonial battleground -- as France fought a nationalist movement led by Ho Chi Minh. Despite financial backing from the United States, the French lost control of Vietnam in 1954 -- after a Vietnamese force captured the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu.

french troops captured at Dien Bien Phu

An international peace conference in Geneva temporarily divided Vietnam into a communist-led North and non-communist South and agreed that countrywide elections would be held in 1956. America opposed the elections, fearing the communists would gain control. The elections were never held.

IRON FISTS

The North Vietnamese embarked on radical land reforms, persecuting and imprisoning landowners and aggravating a refugee crisis. By 1955, close to a million people had fled south.

In South Vietnam, the United States supported the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem, an autocratic anti-communist determined to resist Hanoi. To fight Diem and unite Vietnam under the Hanoi government, the communists in 1960 created the National Liberation Front -- the guerrilla organization also known as the Viet Cong.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Groups such as the Viet Cong were encouraged by Moscow. U.S. President John F. Kennedy, after suffering a setback against the communists in Cuba and trying to control the crisis in Berlin, wanted to show U.S. resolve in Asia. He sent American military advisers to South Vietnam.

OVERTHROW

Diem's attempts to control the Viet Cong grew more extreme and created growing discontent in South Vietnam. Several monks burned themselves to death as part of public protests against the Diem regime.

Nov. 1, 1963: Rebel VN Marines pause after storming the Presidential Palace in Saigon.

A group of Diem's generals turned against him. On November 1, 1963, they attacked the Presidential Palace, believing they had or would have American support. By the next day, the government was overthrown and Diem was dead, murdered by his own soldiers.

While the people of Saigon initially responded with enthusiasm to Diem's overthrow, the coup left the country with no clear leader.

GULF OF TONKIN

Within weeks of Diem's murder, President Kennedy was assassinated.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed office determined not to lose Vietnam to the communists. He sent Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to South Vietnam to repledge U.S. support.

In August 1964, the USS Maddox, an American destroyer on patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin, exchanged fire with North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Two days later, the ship's captain reported he was under attack again. Despite conflicting evidence, the Pentagon insisted there had been a second unprovoked attack.

The incident prompted Johnson to push the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress. The measure allowed LBJ to wage war in Vietnam.

ESCALATION

In March 1965, four months after Johnson was elected president by a landslide, the first U.S. ground troops landed at Da Nang.

Johnson was convinced that, without the support of a massive U.S. force, South Vietnam was doomed. In response to the U.S. troop buildup, North Vietnam began to send thousands of soldiers to fight in South Vietnam. In the Ia Drang valley in Vietnam's central highlands, the North Vietnamese and U.S. armies met in the first major battle of the war. It was an American victory -- but U.S. casualties were heavy.

Morning of 16 Nov 1965
Ia Drang Valley
Lt. Rick Rescorla, Platoon Leader,
B Co 2/7 Cav in Bayonet Attack.
Photo by Peter Arnett

American GIs, meanwhile, found themselves in a baffling war. They were unable to distinguish friend from foe. American bombing and shelling drove tens of thousands of Vietnamese from their villages. American television networks kept a running tally of the U.S. "body count."


Ho Chi Minh Trail

Johnson attempted to force the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table by bombing North Vietnam -- including the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the primitive but highly effective supply line that linked North Vietnam with its fighters and supporters in the South. But the tactic failed.

QUAGMIRE

The growing scale and savagery of the war in Vietnam created growing dissent back in the United States. Johnson was politically weakened by the anti-war movement.

In 1968, communist forces launched wide-scale attacks throughout South Vietnam to coincide with Tet, the Vietnamese new year. The communists hoped to spark a general uprising across the country, a mission that ultimately failed. But the strength of the offensive came as a shock to the American public and Johnson.

He offered to begin peace talks with the North Vietnamese -- and announced he would not run for another term in office.

In May 1968, peace talks began in Paris but soon deadlocked. Richard Nixon, who had begun his campaign for the presidency, called for an "honorable" end to U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. But his campaign aides were secretly urging South Vietnamese officials to not strike a peace deal until after the election.

The war was to last another four years, costing thousands more lives.

[SAMWolf]

MAD: 1960-1972
ON ALERT

During the Cold War, the armed forces of both the United States and U.S.S.R. were in a state of constant vigilance. War, if it came, would soon go "nuclear." Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radars were in operation in Alaska, Greenland and England. America, still remembering the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, did not want to be surprised again.



In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the new American president. He inherited the doctrine of "massive retaliation" to any Soviet attack. Massive retaliation had been conceived at a time of clear U.S. nuclear superiority. But now, the Russians were trying to catch up.

BUILDUP

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted to remind the West of his nation's power. On October 30, 1961, he broke a moratorium on nuclear testing. A Russian bomber dropped the largest bomb the world had ever seen. Its explosion was the equivalent of more than 50 million tons of TNT, more than all the explosives used in World War II. It was so powerful that people 50 miles from ground zero were blown off their feet.




President Kennedy, angered by the new Soviet tests, announced that the United States would proceed in its development of nuclear weapons. But public opinion in the West was turning against the nuclear arms buildup. In Europe, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other "ban the bomb" groups began to emerge. Kennedy and his defense secretary, Robert McNamara, meanwhile, were having second thoughts about the strategy of massive retaliation -- now it meant the United States would be initiating the use of nuclear weapons against an equally equipped Soviet Union.

McNamara presented U.S. military planners with an appealing alternative: No Cities/Counterforce. Soviet cities were no longer to be targeted, only Soviet military forces. But the new strategy was dismissed by the Soviets as self-deluding.

CLOSE CALL

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. For nearly two weeks, Moscow and Washington were involved in a tense contest of wills over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev, confronted by Kennedy's nuclear superiority, backed down -- ending the crisis. But both sides were shocked at how close they had come to nuclear war. They set up a "hot line," a direct communications link between the Soviet and U.S. capitals.



Several months later, the Soviet Union, United States and Britain agreed to a Limited Test Ban Treaty, ending atmospheric tests. Nuclear testing would continue, but underground. The race to increase stockpiles continued as well, as the Kremlin -- smarting from the Cuban crisis -- vowed never again to confront America from a position of weakness.

A grim logic was beginning to emerge. Nuclear disarmament was not achievable, yet nuclear war was unthinkable. The White House became convinced that the strategy of MAD, mutual assured destruction, was the only deterrent to nuclear conflict.

DETERRENCE

For MAD to succeed, each side needed to be able to retaliate, even after it had suffered a surprise attack. Submarines now played a crucial role -- as mobile launch platforms for nuclear missiles. Both sides practiced civil defense against nuclear attack, but it was generally believed that it was impossible to defend against nuclear weapons.


A mid-air collision took place on Jan. 17, 1966 over Palomares, Spain

Even short of total war, nuclear deterrence carried its own dangers. In 1966 over the coast of Spain, a U.S. bomber collided in mid-air with a tanker aircraft. As the planes crashed, four hydrogen bombs were scattered over the coast. Three hit the ground and were recovered. One fell into the sea and was lost for 80 days. Such "Broken Arrow" incidents were growing, as both sides increased their nuclear arsenals.

ANTI-MISSILES

The Soviet military was unconvinced by the MAD theory. They worked to develop anti-ballistic missiles -- ABMs -- that could destroy U.S. missiles in flight. The introduction of ABMs destabilized the concept of MAD. Tensions in the Middle East, brought on by the 1967 Six Day War, prompted U.S. President Johnson and Soviet Premier Kosygin to meet for a summit. The issue of ABMs was high on their agenda.


MIRV

U.S. scientists, meanwhile, prepared a counter-measure: Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicles -- MIRVs for short. One single missile could now carry 10 separate warheads, each capable of destroying a city.


Nixon and Brezhnev Shaking Hands, President Nixon and Soviet Premier Brezhnev shake hands after signing the first SALT treaty.

By 1969, the superpowers were, between them, spending more than $50 million a day on nuclear armaments. It was a burden both sides found intolerable, and it led to negotiations known as SALT, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. SALT dragged on until 1972, when U.S. President Nixon went to Moscow to sign the arms agreements with Soviet Premier Brezhnev. ABMs had now been discredited, but the two sides could not come to a lasting agreement on offensive nuclear weapons. Preparations for global annihilation continued.

Additional Sources:

www.cnn.com
redescolar.ilce.edu.mx
news.bbc.co.uk
www.enterstageright.com
www.laahs.com
www.cia.gov
www.gwu.edu
www.crisisdeoctubre.cubaweb.cu
faculty.smu.edu
www.psywarrior.com
www.stibbens.com
www.history.navy.mil
www.njvvmf.org
nam.wz.cz
www.pinetreeline.org
www.multimedialibrary.com
history.searchbeat.com
www.atomicmuseum.com
www.arches.uga.edu
www.gwu.edu

[SAMWolf]

The emergence of a communist government in Cuba heightens Cold War tensions -- and for several terrifying days brings the world to the brink of nuclear war.

It was a conflict that devastated one nation and divided another. Vietnam brought a new dimension to the Cold War -- and forced the United States to rethink its goals in the superpower rivalry.

With Cold War tensions heightening at the start of the 1960s, the superpowers are drawn into an escalating arms race. The world's safety depends on a nuclear paradox known as "mutual assured destruction."

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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[snippy_about_it]

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[Colonel_Flagg]

Good evening, Foxhole!

Snippy, I'm falling in early for once :) .. how are you? Bookmarking thread for later read once I wake up!

[GailA]

I'm still up for a change...don't have to be back down to Bush HQ until Monday, and not camping this weekend..have to go get tires on hubby's car.

[snippy_about_it]

Hi Colonel. I'm fine. We're having an okay time here in Virginia/Maryland. Fly home Saturday.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Time away is always good, no? Went back to work myself today after a week off. Kicking and screaming, but back nonetheless. :)

[snippy_about_it]

Hi Gail. Isn't tomorrow the first day of fall? Good to get tires before winter comes around. I'll tell you what, on our little trip here I have to say that around the DC and Maryland area we are seeing more kerry signs than we ever saw in Oregon. At least in yards. On cars we mostly see Bush stickers. Probably because Bush supporters actually work for a living. LOL.

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. You take more time off than anyone I know. ;-) I hope you are feeling well and it was your choice to take some time off.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Who, me? :) I earn it!

Feeling just great, thanks -- but hitting the wall and about to head to bed. Nice to find you, though!

[snippy_about_it]

Good night dear FRiend. I believe you do earn it.

[CholeraJoe]

Cold War

Death From Above Ping

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole. We have some storms headed this way so I'll most likely be unplugging the computer later this morning.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Colonel.

Two more days of information overload and we get to go back to Oregon. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning GailA.

not camping this weekend

:-( The season is running out.

[SAMWolf]

Kicking and screaming

That's the way I always went to work. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning CholeraJoe.

We passed a blonde in a BMW Z3 on the expressway yesterday morning that had plates that read "HIMAINT". We both said, "Not a girl CholeraJoe would date". :-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Keep your head down and stay dry. Supposed to to be nice here today.