How far did the home front contribute to America's inability to defeat the Communists in Vietnam?

American military strategy placed the Communists at an advantage; if America had radically changed its strategy then they may have been able to defeat the Communists in Vietnam. The American military had failed to learn from the mistakes made by the French in Vietnam, neither the French or American troops could adapt to the nature of Guerrilla warfare. The Rolling Thunder programme, involving systematic bombing of North and South Vietnamese targets was a completely unsuitable method for the agricultural based society of Vietnam. This programme was unsuccessful in dramatically weakening the Communist enemy and killed many innocent Vietnamese, and for this reason many Vietnamese civilians began to sympathise with the Communists. The strategic hamlets programme did not take into account the culture and tradition of the South Vietnamese people, many became disillusioned with the Americans who were supposedly protecting them. Further alienation of the South Vietnamese civilians came when the American troops went on ‘search and destroy missions’.

The Americans did not attempt to win over ‘the hearts and the minds’ of the Vietnamese civilians, which was one strength of the Communists. Perhaps the most significant failure of the Americans was to overlook the Nationalism that the Communists were fighting for and view the war in the context of the Cold war. American strategy also failed to take into account the determination of the Communists, who wanted to rid their country of foreigners. The communists knew what they were fighting for and were determined to achieve it, whatever conditions they found themselves in. Whereas many Americans did not understand why they were fighting in Vietnam and in between spells at the front they had comfortable rest and recuperation periods.

The American failure of political will was another determining factor of why the Americans were unable to defeat the Communists. The gradual escalation of American involvement in Vietnam by the government and successive presidents suggested to the Communists that America lacked the will to win. Each president was cautious in his escalation, so as not to lose public support. Each President did not want to be the first to lose the war. The South Vietnamese government that America was supporting was unpopular and weak, but without America’s support it would have fallen to Communism. President Nixon was in office when the anti-war movement was at its peak; he faced the dilemma of sending more troops or backing out of the war. By this time many could see that the war was unwinnable. Nixon could not justify to a public that was divided over the war that sending more troops would ensure American success.

To conclude, the Americans were unable to defeat the Communists in Vietnam because their methods of waging war were unsuitable for the terrain and combating guerrilla warfare. The American government and troops knew little about the Vietnamese culture and history and failed to understand them. The American troops alienated many South Vietnamese with their behaviour towards the civilians and programmes that aimed to weaken the Communists. Ultimately the Americans failed to win over the ‘hearts and the minds’ of the South Vietnamese and were unable to see that the enemy’s nationalism came before their communism. The home front did not contribute to America’s inability to defeat the Communists but the anti-war movement, influenced by the media, signified that many were becoming disillusioned with the war and were not in support of the methods used in Vietnam. This movement questioned whether the communists could actually be defeated by the Americans and put pressure on the government to review its presence in Vietnam.