The Congress has also created a Special Inspector General for Iraq (SIGIR) and then a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR). Which is correct? Nixon sought to deflate the anti-war movement by appealing to a silent majority of Americans who he believed supported the war effort. A related estimate by the Watson Institute puts the cost at $4.8 trillion through FY2016. Yet, the theory of human capi-tal has been applied widely, as for example in estimating the costs of illness or injury.1 In 1931, J. Clark estimated the cost of death and disability resulting from the First World War [2]. The Wooden Horse: A Gift What were some human costs of the Vietnam War? Reporting that only covers military personnel is outdated and grossly incompetent. Between two million and three million people are believed to have fled these countries in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Center for Strategic and International Studies The DoD semi-annual report now focuses almost exclusively on military activity, and there is no State/USAID counterpart. American body counts of the enemy were notoriously unreliable and were often little more than ambitious estimates. Question 1: "did it seem like an utter waste of time and resources?" Vietnamese farmers could not return to some areas for years and when they did, they faced the danger of triggering landmines and unexploded aerial bombs left by departing forces. Date accessed: May 01, 2023 In addition to the United States, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand also committed troops to fight in South Vietnam (albeit on a much smaller scale). Direct link to Angela Hilario's post Clarification: Sal said i, Posted 4 years ago. $66.0 billion in FY2017 total budget authority and $41.3 billion in adjusted budget authority. This, in turn, creates a strong incentive to try to create effective local forces as soon as possible. Yes, to me (who served in Vietnam with the US Army for 11 months in 1970) it seemed like an utter waste of time and resources. Both sides wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. They make a striking contrast to the total OCO costs. Taken by surprise, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces nonetheless managed to strike back quickly, and the communists were unable to hold any of the targets for more than a day or two. Overview The Vietnam War was a prolonged military conflict that started as an anticolonial war against the French and evolved into a Cold War confrontation between international communism and free-market democracy. What effect did Nixon's promise to unify the nation and restore law and order have on his . Summary This CRS report provides estimates of the costs of major U.S. wars from the American Revolution through current conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Those who argue that the United States opponents won the war cite the United States overall objectives and outcomes. Johnson was motivated by both domestic political and international balance of power considerations. Some of the papers from the archive of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history. He expected that France would become a stronger ally if assisted by the United States. This meant that often wealthier men (who could afford college tuition) could avoid being sent to Vietnam, while men from poorer families could not avoid it. These latter estimates update a series of earlier CRS analyses, one of which noted that, "Other observers and analysts define war costs more broadly than congressional appropriations and include estimates of the life-time costs of caring for OEF/OIF/OND veterans, imputed interest costs on the deficit, or increases in DODs base budget deemed to be a consequence of support for the warSuch costs are difficult to compute, subject to extensive caveats, and often based on methodologies that may not be appropriate". The U.S. Constitution grants Congress sole authority to issue declarations of war. The symptoms of PTSD include depression, anxiety, nervousness, sleep deprivation, flashbacks and social isolation. As the war stretched on, some soldiers came to mistrust the governments reasons for keeping them there, as well as Washingtons repeated claims that the war was being won. The Vietnam War was a 19-year conflict involving Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The United States however, is fighting what are civil-military wars where the "hold," "stability," and "recovery and development" effort is critical to winning popular support. Additionally, supported by aid from China and the Soviet Union, North Vietnam strengthened its air defenses. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. In view of the surprisingly good performance of the South Vietnamese army at Tet, and responding to growing pressure in the United States to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Nixon administration decided to accelerate a program to provide South Vietnam . The program budgeting and integrated force planning efforts pioneered towards the end of the Eisenhower Administrationand put into practice in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrationshave decayed into hollow shells. In contrast to the air attacks on North Vietnam, the U.S.-South Vietnamese war effort in the south was fought primarily on the ground, largely under the command of General William Westmoreland, in coordination with the government of General Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. Total was $43.5 billion in FY2015, $44.4 billion with supplemental, $45.2 billion in FY2016, and $50.4 billion in FY2017 less DoD. The total cost of all U.S. aid to Afghanistan through FY2016 is $115.3 billion, which is 16 percent of the total OCO cost of $728.9 billion from FY2001 to FY2016. There is no break out in the budget request by war of State/USAID and VA spending for FY2016-FY2018. By 1957, the Viet Cong and other opponents of Diems repressive regime began fighting back with attacks on government officials and other targets, and by 1959 they had begun engaging the South Vietnamese army in firefights. South Vietnam was a viable nation-state by 1972, afflicted by internal armed opposition but not overwhelmed by it. peoples' experiences? However, they were probably mostly focused on stopping the spread of communism because of the domino theory. the Trojans have advanced Fearful that the war would jeopardize his domestic agenda, Johnson concealed the extent of the military escalation from the American public. Or would he have gone in a quote better direction based upon how he handled other things as president? These issues are discussed in more detail later in this study. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. Title: The costs of the Vietnam War All Rights Reserved. A coup by some of his own generals succeeded in toppling and killing Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, in November 1963, three weeks before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The American death toll in Vietnam is dwarfed by the devastating losses suffered by local people. It also presents some key metrics developed by SIGAR on the annual and cumulative costs of U.S. aid efforts in Afghanistan. These war costs stalled some of Lyndon Johnsons Great Society reforms, including anti-poverty measures and improvements to social security. The bombing. Key metrics are provided for the U.S. use of airpower, showing a major rise in support of Afghan forces in CY2017. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. What were the assumptions underlying the US involvement in Southeast Asia? How did the American public react when they heard the news? The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Between July 1966 and December 1973, more than 503,000 U.S. military personnel deserted, and a robust anti-war movement among American forces spawned violent protests, killings and mass incarcerations of personnel stationed in Vietnam as well as within the United States. A government survey in 1988 concluded that 479,000 people just over 15 per cent of US service personnel posted to Vietnam had been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In that respect, it failed: the two Vietnams were united under a communist banner in July 1976. Updated: March 28, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009. These chemicals also had an insidious impact on both Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers and their allies. These were not linked to progress in stability operations and creating effective host country forces. The government most likely knew about these dangers. Given the costs omitted from the OCO budget, the real total cost will almost certainly be well over $2 trillion, even using OCO data as the only costs of the wars. The status of the FY2018 OCO requests for DoD and State are now highly uncertain and these charts focus on FY2001-FY2017. As the second of the Indochina Wars, the Vietnam War was originally fought between North and South Vietnam. February 18, 2018. Explore the final years of the war in Vietnam, which saw the United States and her Allies confront the brutal realities of loss and withdrawal from a jungle . What does human cost mean? They all reflect a common pattern of erratic funding and slow reaction to the return of the Taliban. America was deeply affected by these heavy losses and struggled to understand the meaning, significance and lessons of the Vietnam War. If anything it was the french's fault for everything. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW With his approval ratings dropping in an election year, Johnson called a halt to bombing in much of North Vietnam (though bombings continued in the south) and promised to dedicate the rest of his term to seeking peace rather than reelection. The invasion of these countries, in violation of international law, sparked a new wave of protests on college campuses across America. Failing to address casualties does not defuse the issues they raise or the reality that they too are a cost of war. Check all of the boxes that apply. He authorized a series of bombing campaigns, most notably Operation Rolling Thunder, and also committed hundreds of thousands of US ground troops to the fight. Direct link to Jeff Kelman's post How come there was a "Vie, Posted 7 years ago. Per capita GDP as of 2013 was $2,073, with an unemployment rate of just 2.1% and a poverty rate of 13.5%. introduction in the play Which best describes the cost of the Vietnam War in human terms? Jack Smith, a psychologist who had served as a Marine in Vietnam, said that everyone blamed everyone else for what had gone wrong: Military men blame policymakers, right-wingers blame the pinkos and the media and protestors, the left blame the right. It was the last major event of the Vietnam War. Oh, I think that if you consider the Holocaust or the slaughters at the time of Indian partition, you might find things more horrible. By 1962, the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam had reached some 9,000 troops, compared with fewer than 800 during the 1950s. In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. On it were inscribed the names of 57,939 American men and women killed or missing in the war; later additions brought that total to 58,200. Homeland defense has become more expensive than any ongoing U.S. war or active combat effort. The costs and casualties of the growing war proved too much for the United States to bear, and U.S. combat units were withdrawn by 1973. The effort to create meaningful Future Year Defense Programs seem to have been given a final death blow by the Budget Control Act (BCA)legislation originally designed to be so stupid that the Congress could not possibly accept it. 1. Once again, a valid approach to resourcing and costing the war must look beyond the number of military personnel and justify the total number of personnel. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Or were both parties perhaps working together? There was little that had not been bombed, blasted or shot up from roads to railways, buildings to bridges, ports to power stations. Kennedys expansion stemmed in part from Cold War-era fears about the domino theory: if communism took hold in Vietnam, it would topple democracies throughout the whole of Southeast Asia, it was thought. Why does scarcity mean that people must choose. The next few years would bring even more carnage, including the horrifying revelation that U.S. soldiers had mercilessly slaughtered more than 400 unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai in March 1968. Since 1941 Congress has declared war only six times, all during World War II. A historians view: In 1968 and 1969, there were hundreds of protest marches and gatherings throughout the country. Vietnam is a country in south-east Asia. Working under the domino theory, which held that if one Southeast Asian country fell to communism, many other countries would follow, Kennedy increased U.S. aid, though he stopped short of committing to a large-scale military intervention. See the Vietnam War unfold through the gripping firsthand accounts of 13 brave men and women forever changed by their experiences. In 1965, Johnson dramatically escalated US involvement in the war. The charts and tables in this section raise several key points about the need for better reporting on manpower: The State Department and USAID provide virtually no meaningful explanation of their strategy for either war, do not explain the challenges they face in meaningful terms, and do not link their budget justification to any clear explanation of a civil-military program. Which best describes the cost of the Vietnam War in human terms? In March 1965, Johnson made the decisionwith solid support from the American publicto send U.S. combat forces into battle in Vietnam. The bombing campaign was meant to disrupt the flow of supplies across the Ho Chi Minh trail into Vietnam and to prevent the rise of the Pathet Lao, or Lao communist forces.
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