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How useful are sources A - C in explaining why the U.S became involved in the war in Vietnam?

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Introduction

How useful are sources A - C in explaining why the U.S became involved in the war in Vietnam? All the sources are useful to a certain extent in explaining why the U.S became involved in the war in Vietnam. They don't explain fully why but they all have useful content that can be linked to the question. All the sources are written by Americans and this could be a reason why the sources aren't completely reliable but we can't be sure until we examine the sources. I'm going to examine the content in the sources and use my own knowledge to answer the question. Source A describes the U.S fears of a Communist victory in Vietnam. ...read more.

Middle

The source was written just one month after the start of Operation Rolling Thunder. Operation Rolling Thunder was a frequently interrupted bombing campaign that began on 24 February 1965 and lasted until the end of October 1968. During this period the U.S Air Force and Navy aircraft engaged in a bombing campaign designed to force Ho Chi Minh to abandon his ambition to take over South Vietnam. Source B is also written by President Johnson but this time the source is taken from a private conversation. The source does not say who the conversation was with but it's still an important piece of evidence that we need to take into account when we are studying the source. ...read more.

Conclusion

From what we can read Chomsky is anti - war and we notice this as the source seems to be one sided. We can't really relate the source to the question because its content doesn't really include information as to why the U.S became involved. As Chomsky is an American critic of the war we expect his information to be biased against America. We also have to take into account that critics only show one side of the argument, what they believe is right. I have come to the conclusion that when the sources are put together with my own knowledge they are a factual piece of information that explains how and why the U.S became involved in the Vietnam War. ...read more.

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