I propose the following scenario:
(Please read the entire threads before commenting)threads
The United States has become a military government. In this scenario for some reason, a military junta takes the government, and immediately begins controlling the media (like in ww2), propagating strong anti-communist and patriotic campaigns, and repressing anti-war protests and hippie culture, and drug use is also heavily repressed, especially in the army. This happens at the height of the war in 1968, and American generals are ready to fight until the annihilation of communist aggression in Vietnam and the region.
In this scenario, it is not the intention to debate how it would affect the rest of the world, so suppose the international geopolitical situation was similar to what occurred in our timeline, the Soviet Union and China still support northern Vietnam, a full ground invasion is not possible against North Vietnam, because it would eventually generate Chinese involvement, but the United States ends up using any military actions that are necessary against Cambodia and Laos, in order to neutralize the Ho Chi Minh line and attack Vietnamese positions in these countries, allowing invasions military by ground, but very limited, in order to not involve other countries and not escalate into a global or major conflict, therefore the only main target are Vietnamese troops and Vietnamese who use military positions in these countries.
American strategies remain basically the same, for body counting, but the military now has the autonomy to make war-related decisions without having to worry about justifying actions for the civilian government.
PS: The purpose of the discussion is not to focus on debating how this radical political change in the USA would be possible. This is a parallel universe where different and specific events generated this scenario that would not be possible in our timeline, the purpose here is to debate how it would affect the conflict, since there would be no more withdrawal of troops from Vietnam or anti-war movements.
PS II: The army taking the government is just an excuse to justify this scenario, where the United States does not give up the war, and the military has freedom to act around this objective. The idea of the military taking power was to create a context where this total engagement in the war would be possible. If you think this scenario is unrealistic, you can create your own explanation for describe how this total engagement in war would be possible in a alternative timeline.
(Please read the entire threads before commenting)threads
The United States has become a military government. In this scenario for some reason, a military junta takes the government, and immediately begins controlling the media (like in ww2), propagating strong anti-communist and patriotic campaigns, and repressing anti-war protests and hippie culture, and drug use is also heavily repressed, especially in the army. This happens at the height of the war in 1968, and American generals are ready to fight until the annihilation of communist aggression in Vietnam and the region.
In this scenario, it is not the intention to debate how it would affect the rest of the world, so suppose the international geopolitical situation was similar to what occurred in our timeline, the Soviet Union and China still support northern Vietnam, a full ground invasion is not possible against North Vietnam, because it would eventually generate Chinese involvement, but the United States ends up using any military actions that are necessary against Cambodia and Laos, in order to neutralize the Ho Chi Minh line and attack Vietnamese positions in these countries, allowing invasions military by ground, but very limited, in order to not involve other countries and not escalate into a global or major conflict, therefore the only main target are Vietnamese troops and Vietnamese who use military positions in these countries.
American strategies remain basically the same, for body counting, but the military now has the autonomy to make war-related decisions without having to worry about justifying actions for the civilian government.
PS: The purpose of the discussion is not to focus on debating how this radical political change in the USA would be possible. This is a parallel universe where different and specific events generated this scenario that would not be possible in our timeline, the purpose here is to debate how it would affect the conflict, since there would be no more withdrawal of troops from Vietnam or anti-war movements.
PS II: The army taking the government is just an excuse to justify this scenario, where the United States does not give up the war, and the military has freedom to act around this objective. The idea of the military taking power was to create a context where this total engagement in the war would be possible. If you think this scenario is unrealistic, you can create your own explanation for describe how this total engagement in war would be possible in a alternative timeline.
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