Reference Article Summary
(Research topic: Vietnam War)
The article first gives me a profound understanding of the Vietnam War and United States' involvement in the war. First, it starts with indicating the key events and the results in Vietnam War. Then, it shows both viewpoints from whether U.S. military intervention in Vietnam was justified.
For people who think that the intervention was justified, they consider the U.S. military intervention in Vietnam as containment against communism. Before the Vietnam War, "when the pro-Western half of a divided state such as Germany or Korea came under attack or threat of attack from the other, pro-Soviet half, the United States did not hesitate to act quickly and decisively to defend the pro-Western sector." ("Vietnam War: Was U.S. Military Intervention in Vietnam Justified?") So when North Korea invaded South Korea, the administration reacted quickly by sending troops to support South Vietnam. There are some more arguments.
Vietnam-era rifles at the National Firearms Museum
English: Exhibit: Vietnam War uniforms (U.S. Army)...
English: U.S. army troops taking a break while on ...For example, the U.S. made a stand because they don't want to see another Munich Agreement. Also, they misjudged China as a rising power who aimed to take over Asia and thought the Soviet Union was encouraging Communist revolutions in Third World countries. The intervention was "not only to prevent a communist takeover, but also to show the efficacy of Western-style economic and social development plans," also to defy the domestic pressure against the communist aggression.
For politicians considering the U.S. military intervention in Vietnam as unjustified, they think that it "did not serve U.S. interests, and it violated the precepts of the Western concept of a just war." The commonly accepted just-war philosophy is that wars be fought only for unambiguously moral purposes, such as self-defense, the maintenance of international order. However, the United States didn't meet the criterion. Instead, the American intervention had "neither...