WI: USA won Vietnam

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All right here is my opinion on how the US could’ve won the Vietnam war we needed to carpet bomb the North Vietnamese cities like we did during World War II to break the populations will to resist us. In my opinion that is the only way we could win the Vietnam war totally. This is just what I think could’ve worked I am not advocating actually doing this.
 
Get the corrupt leader out and replace with least corrupt available substitute. Professionalize the SV army more and keep tighter control of the press. Maintain support and promote native operations more. Massacres and rape get visibly punished and their perpetrators made examples of.
 
A possibility if he goes titoist.
He quoted Jefferson when he declared Vietnamese independence. He only turned to the Soviets because they were the only people who were offering support to Vietnamese Independence while the US and France were sending Nazis to go fight him.
 
Only a small percentage of the French foreign Legion in Vietnam were German. And that every member of the German contingent was members of the nazis party is very insensitive , some people joint to find a living after World War II which devastated Germany, others admittedly were members of the Waffen-SS seeking to Flee Europe to avoid prosecution for the many horrible things they did during the war.
 
Only a small percentage of the French foreign Legion in Vietnam were German. And that every member of the German contingent was members of the nazis party is very insensitive , some people joint to find a living after World War II which devastated Germany, others admittedly were members of the Waffen-SS seeking to Flee Europe to avoid prosecution for the many horrible things they did during the war.
Regardless he asked America for an alliance and they immediately turned on him and they did include Nazis in the Foreign Legion. All because the US couldn't understand that he was only a Communist because he was a Nationalist.
 
All right here is my opinion on how the US could’ve won the Vietnam war we needed to carpet bomb the North Vietnamese cities like we did during World War II to break the populations will to resist us. In my opinion that is the only way we could win the Vietnam war totally. This is just what I think could’ve worked I am not advocating actually doing this.
The United States dropped more ordinance in Southeast Asia in the Vietnam War than they did on Europe and Japan combined in WW2, I'm not sure that just dropping more bombs would have solved anything.
 
Sino soviet war that goes nuclear.

Once the north is cut off from their supplies from their patrons they don't have a choice but to come to the table.
 
The United States dropped more ordinance in Southeast Asia in the Vietnam War than they did on Europe and Japan combined in WW2, I'm not sure that just dropping more bombs would have solved anything.

Most of that was on 'suspected Truck parks' aka empty Jungle.

Though my Uncle, who was in the Central Highlands, said that a nearby ArcLight mission was the terrifying thing he had experience of.


So its not so much more bombs, but use WWII targeting to drop bombs where they actually damage infrastructure.
 
I mean, they would have to actually know its an independence war, not a war against communism. With that knowledge, how can they win? How can they excuse their actions?

There was as much a difference between the historical groups in Vietnam as there was in the British Isles, with the Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English

Vietnam had never really been unified on its own in that long history of being occupied by other Empires

The DMZ wasn't that randomly placed, it was close to the historical divide, Annam Gate, the boundary between the Trinh & Nguyen
 
He quoted Jefferson when he declared Vietnamese independence. He only turned to the Soviets because they were the only people who were offering support to Vietnamese Independence while the US and France were sending Nazis to go fight him.

He had been a solid Communist since the '20s. He said that stuff as being the best way to influence the US, not that he was an admirer of 18thC Democracy.

Check out his 'Land Reform' of 1955. Stalin would have been Proud.
 

Ian_W

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He had been a solid Communist since the '20s. He said that stuff as being the best way to influence the US, not that he was an admirer of 18thC Democracy.

Check out his 'Land Reform' of 1955. Stalin would have been Proud.

Failing to break the power of the landlords is a major reason why RVN lost.
 
That’s my pick. The guy reached out for US help after the Japanese withdrawal - help him.
Support Ho Chi Minh when he tried to ally with the US in 1945.
Oh boy, what would the French say? Let's remember France had a very strong communist party with legitimacy at the time, so a communist takeover wasn't that crazy to think about. France was also a bigger partner than Vietnam.

On top of that, if I remember correctly, the English were occupying Vietnam and toyed with the idea of acknowledging their independance, but they needed French support in Europe.
Just imagine the PR if the US is actively stripping France of its colonies. Just the fact they had a currency prepared for the occupation of France is bad enough PR to this very day, that wouldn't fly well at all and you'd risk a realignment of France, as well as sending a very very bad signal to any other ally

Plus by this time, Ho Chi Minh was firmly communist.

Intervene in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.
The American were major contributors of the French war effort in Vietnam, financing a big part of the operations. Troups on the ground might be a bit much for the Americans and the French

Failing to break the power of the landlords is a major reason why RVN lost.
And that's a big, big point. The RVN was fairly unpopular due to a host of reason, chief among them political and religious persecution. Diem effectively created a Christian mafia, pushing down on the Buddhist and Cao Dai instead of relying on them. That and his kleptocracy (happily supported by Western Powers) made him extremely unpopular with the population.
If he had been popular, he would have had less issues
 
There was a point when reducing the size of South Vietnam was considered. The South Vietnamese would retreat behind the 13th parallel - the country has survived even though it is much smaller.

This would leave the militarily important Cam Ranh Bay and the economically important Mekong River Delta in one country while reducing the amount of territory that needs to be protected.
 
There was as much a difference between the historical groups in Vietnam as there was in the British Isles, with the Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English

Vietnam had never really been unified on its own in that long history of being occupied by other Empires

The DMZ wasn't that randomly placed, it was close to the historical divide, Annam Gate, the boundary between the Trinh & Nguyen

Doesn't mean a foreign power should come in and intervene just because they have the socialist ideology.

Vietnam was one country, under imperial rule, divided as much as France itself. Plus Vietnam was to be reunited in 1956, but the South took measures to prevent that, and thus the second Indo-chinese war started.
 
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