WHERE THE DOMINO FELL

Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1955

Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1955

Introduction

The book that is under review give a comprehensive account of the wars in Vietnam since 1945 and some important glimpses of Vietnam's ancient and modern history. There are now more than seven thousand books available on the war, and there is intense national debate in the United States over lessons for a better future. Among other things, the debate reminds about the dissenting views and the unprecedented nationwide antiwar movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. In spite of painful memories, a number of Vietnamese have come to see all the above as positive qualities of the American nation that encourage them to look to the future with optimism. There are probably many reasons behind the United States involvement in Vietnam, but I agree with Olson and Robert's views that the leaders embarked on the war mainly because of a rigid mind-set of obsolete and inapplicable beliefs, particularly the Cold War doctrine of containment. Therefore, as James S. Olson and Randy Roberts point out, the Vietnam War, from the perspective of the United States, was a "wrong" one because the government saw only communism, not nationalism. The other authors also implied that this was a case of misreading United States interests and Vietnamese realities.

In fairness, it must be said that from 1945 to 1948 some United States officials correctly understood that, while Ho Chi Minh was a Communist, he was first of all a nationalist. After the Korean War, however, United States leaders discarded this view, seeing Vietnam's struggle for independence as part of the Chinese scheme of expansion, and gave all-out help to France in her colonial war. Later, the events at the Bay of Pigs and in Berlin might have further spurred the United States to stand firm in South Vietnam, but the view of all of the socialist countries as a monolithic force, led by the Soviet Union and China, which were bent on expansion, was the main element behind the blind anticommunism of the United States vis-a-vis Vietnam. This view distorted United States foreign policy and turned a country that is tangential to its national security into a strategy and ordnance focus. Therefore, in my views presidents of America during the war, set a decisive precedent. However, this study would not be arguing my views, but would attempt to answer following questions:

How do the authors view the North Vietnamese?

Are they hostile or sympathetic to the North Vietnamese viewpoint?

Do they see the way the war ended as a tragedy, a triumph, or something of varied significance?

Did the North Vietnamese benefit from winning the war or not?

Discussion and Analysis

To obtain the answers from the book, this study will summarize some of the key points in this section, which will help to obtain the answers of the question to achieve the purpose of this study. The books follow a pattern, which is commonly known as the domino ...