Faculty of Letters, Languages and Arts

Department of Anglo Saxons Languages

Doctoral School of English, EDALPSCBS 2011-2012

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree ofMagister in American Civilisation

American ImperialismCase Study: The Vietnam War

Candidate: Supervisor:

NEBEG Raouf PR. YACINE Rachida

Chairman: ….Dr BENHATTAB Abdelkader Lotfi................................... (University of Oran)Supervisor: …Pr. YACINE Rachida……...…………….. ........................ (University of Oran)Examiner: ......Dr DJAILEB Farida.................. (University of USTO Mohamed Boudiaf-Oran)

ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-2014

Board of Examiners Soutenue le 22 Juin 2014

Dedication

II

Dedications

I pleasurably dedicate my dissertation to my dearest parents, my wife, all my brothers and

sisters and of course my son Rayane.

Aknowledgements

III

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Pr. YACINE Rachida, who gave me assistance in

many ways. I would like to thank her for the academic guidance, the constructive criticism,

the encouragement, and mostly for the moral support she provided me with when things went

at worst. Prof. YACINE is a rare pearl if we may call her, after 10 years she gave me a chance

to return back to the university she gave me a glimpse of hope. There is quite a lot to say, but

my words fail to express all my gratitude. Thank you Prof. YACINE Rachida for making this

thesis comes into being. Thank you for saving me from dropping out, as the Oil and Gas

industry took a better part of my life.

Besides my supervisor, my sincere thanks are due to all the teacher of our first year in the

Doctoral School. It is with great honours to have Dr Mrs Zitouni Mimouna, Dr Moulfi Léila,

Dr Benhattab Lotfi and Dr Djaileb Farida your teachers.

Abstract

V

Abstract

Since its creation the U.S.A went to wars all the time as a part of its foreign policy. This

dissertation will deal with the American Imperialism and the Vietnam War. It is composed of

three chapters. The first chapter will deal with the background of the U.S. Imperialist

policy, definition of imperialism, American attitudes towards imperialism, their overseas

policy and examples of some imperialist cases such as Grenada, Panama and the Vietnam.

The second chapter will focus on the Vietnam War, the causes, and the attitudes of the

political powers at that time. The American War and the use of unconventional weapons

internationally banned such as Napalm and Agent Orange. We will focus, as well, on the

reactions of war in Vietnam through ambushes and general attacks such as the Tet Offensive;

and reactions in the U.S through student movements and media. At last we will discuss the

Vietnamisation and the U.S withdrawal from Vietnam.

The third and last chapter will be devoted to the implications of the Vietnam War on the

U.S. economy, domestic politics, society, and also its impact on the world. And how The

Vietnam War served to undercut much of the logic and rationale. It was used to justify

American support of authoritarian regimes. Dictatorships created political polarisation,

blocked any effective means for reforms, destroyed the centre, and created a backlash of

anti-American sentiment that opened the door to radical nationalist movements that brought

to power the exact type of governments the United States most opposed, and originally

sought to prevent. From Cuba to Iran to Nicaragua, and most tragically in Vietnam, the limits

of this policy were discovered.

Contents

IV

CONTENTSPage

Dedications _____________________________________________________________ II

Aknowledgements_______________________________________________________ III

Abstract ________________________________________________________________ V

Contents _______________________________________________________________ IV

General Introduction______________________________________________________ 1

I. Chapter One: Background of the US imperialist policy

I.1. The background of the US Imperialism: Political and economic reasons______ 4

I.2. American attitudes towards imperialism________________________________12

I.3. The US overseas policy_____________________________________________18

I.4. Imperialistic situations: 1.4.1. The case of Grenada_______________________24

1.4.2. The case of Panama________________________26

1.4.3. The case of Vietnam_______________________28

II. Chapter Two: The Vietnam War (1945-1975)

II.1. Causes of the Vietnam War_________________________________________31

II.2. The American War on Vietnam______________________________________39

II.3. Reactions within Vietnam and in the US_______________________________46

II.4. Vietnamisation and U.S. Withdrawal__________________________________54

III. Chapter Three: The impact of the Vietnam War on the USA and the world.

III.1. Impact on the US Economy____________ ____________________________59

III.2. Impact on the US Politics__________________________________________66

III.3. Impact on the US Society__________________________________________74

III.4. Impact On the world______________________________________________79

Conclusion_______________________________________________________________ 85

Appendix ________________________________________________________________ 87

List of Abbreviations, Tables, Figures and Maps_______________________________ 89

Bibliography_____________________________________________________________102

Introduction

1

Introduction

Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means

of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial conquest or

through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other

countries. The term is often used to describe the policy of a country in maintaining colonies

and dominance over distant lands, regardless of whether the country calls itself an empire.

Insofar as 'imperialism' might be used to refer to an intellectual position, it would imply

the belief that the acquisition and maintenance of empires is a positive good, probably

combined with an assumption of cultural or other such superiority inherent to imperial power.

Imperialism draws heavy criticism on the grounds that it is a form of economic exploitation

in which the imperialist power makes use of other countries as sources of raw materials and

cheap labour, shaping their economies to suit its own interests and keeping their people in

poverty. When imperialism is accompanied by overt military conquest, it is also seen as a

violation of freedom and Human Rights.

In recent years, there has also been a trend to criticize imperialism not at an economic or

political level, but at a simply cultural level, particularly the widespread global influence of

American culture. Some dispute this extension, however, on the grounds that it is highly

subjective (to differentiate between mutual interaction and undue influence) and also applied

selectively (for example, hamburgers being imperialist and black tea not).

Our goal is to focus on the American imperialism in Asia and particularly in Vietnam. We

will also analyse how this war has changed the Americans views towards their government,

how they started to think that their country is killing on their behalf.

What attracted me to this subject is the overall idea of how the U.S as the super power is

built, how they protect democracies in the world for their interest. How The U.S is ruling the

world through its strong foreign policy based on interest? U.S imperialism is guilty of

aggression- its crimes are enormous and cover the whole world. But this guilt also applies to

those who, when the time came for a definition, hesitated to make Vietnam an inviolable part

Introduction

2

of the socialist world; running the risks of a war on a global scale-but also forcing a decision

upon imperialism. And the guilt also applies to those who maintain a war of abuse and snares

-started quite some time ago by the representatives of the two greatest powers of the socialist

camp.

The fundamental field of imperialist exploitation comprises the three underdeveloped

continents: America, Asia, and Africa. Every country has also its own characteristics, but each

continent, as a whole, also presents a certain unity. From an economic point of view, the

United States had very little to lose and much to gain from Asia, for instance, these changes

benefited its interests; the struggle for the overthrow of other neo-colonial powers and the

penetration of new spheres of action in the economic field is carried out sometimes directly,

occasionally through Japan.

Our aim is to discover the atrocities of the US, against the whole world. The U.S. happens

to be the only state in the world that has been condemned by the World Court for international

terrorism. Moreover, it was condemned by the Security Council, except that it vetoed the

resolution. For example, Chomsky points out that ” During the U.S terrorist war against

Nicaragua, the court ordered the United States to desist and pay reparations. The U.S

responded by immediately escalating the crimes, including first official orders to attack what

are called soft targets -- undefended civilian targets.’’1

This thesis elaborates these atrocities, and how the U.S foreign policy is formulated? What

is the background of the U.S Imperialism? The American attitudes towards imperialism. Also,

How the entire world and international institutions react to the American policies? Why is the

U.S considered as the policeman of the world? Why the U.S invaded countries in the name

of democracy and regime change? Grenada, Panama and Vietnam for example. Why the U.S

invaded Vietnam? Why the war shifted to Vietnamisation and then U.S withdrawal? How

protests and media changed the U.S politics? Finally, what is the impact of the Vietnam War

on America and the rest of the world? We will deal with these topics in details through an

analytic method composed of some critics based on contemporary historians, famous authors

and political analysts.

________________________1 N. Chomsky, Deterring Democracy, 1991, p121.

Introduction

3

The Vietnam War was a military attempt by the United States to halt Communist

aggression in Southeast Asia. On January 23rd, 1973 the United States and the North

Vietnamese agreed to cease-fire arrangements. After this agreement the United States

supplied only money to the South Vietnamese. It was the first time the United States as a

whole country had lost a war. Americans began to feel that other nations should etermine

their own destinies. And that the United States should take a less active role in foreign policy.

The Vietnam War and the post-war revelations of American covert actions in the Third

World provided convincing evidence that the old policy of support for dictators was flawed

and, more importantly, damaging to American interests and doomed to fail.

The last chapter deals with the impact of the Vietnam war on America and the rest of the

world. Moreover, how the American policies on foreign affairs, domestic politics, and cultural

and social history were greatly changed by this event. The United States also paid a high

political cost for the Vietnam War. It weakened public faith in government, and in the honesty

and competence of its leaders. Indeed, scepticism, if not cynicism, and a high degree of

suspicion of and distrust toward authority of all kind characterized the views of an increasing

number of Americans in the wake of the war. The military, especially, was discredited for

years. It would gradually rebound to become once again one of the most highly esteemed

organizations in the United States. However, as never before, Americans after the Vietnam

War neither respected nor trusted public institutions.

The world panorama is of great complexity. The struggle for liberation has not yet been

undertaken by some countries , sufficiently developed to realize the contradictions of

capitalism, but weak to such a degree that they are unable either to follow imperialism or even

to start on its own road(Iraq for example). Their contradictions will reach an explosive stage

during the forthcoming years-but their problems and, consequently, their own solutions are

different from those of dependent and economically underdeveloped countries.

CHAPTER ONE

4

Chapter One:Background of the U.S imperialist policy

CHAPTER ONE

5

I.1. The background of the US Imperialism: Political and economic reasons

Imperialism has proved to be an infinitely elastic term, one to be employed against all men

who used power for expansion, consolidation, and conquest. Many Americans have assumed

that there was no period of American imperialism. Others admit to a brief imperialist past

but prefer to clothe that past in other words. some American Historians argue: “We were an

expansionist nation, but not an imperialist one”2, a distinction more Jesuitical than useful.

For the United States had grown, after all, out of a former colonial empire.

Most Americans hoped to make the colonial societies over in the American model so that

they could qualify for self-government or for admission into the Union itself. This assumption

produced, as Whitney T. Perkins 3 has pointed out, "a safety valve of sorts in an inherent bias

toward the extension of self-government." Moreover, Lance Selfa, mentions in the Socialist

review that:

Although it arrived late on the empire-building scene,the U.S. operated no differently than other imperialist powers.It turned the Caribbean Sea into a virtual U.S. lake. Inthe 100 years since the Spanish-American War, the U.S. hasinvaded Cuba five times, Honduras four times, Panama fourtimes, the Dominican Republic twice, Haiti twice, Nicaraguatwice and Grenada once.4

Gen. Smedley Butler, who headed many U.S. military interventions in the early part of this

century, gave a stark account of what he had really been doing:

I have spent 34 years in active service as a member of theMarine Corps. And during that period I spent most of my timebeing a high-class muscle man for big business, for WallStreet and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer forcapitalism. I helped make Mexico safe for American oilinterests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decentplace for the National City Bank to collect revenues. I helpedpacify Nicaragua for the international banking house ofBrown Brothers in 1909-12.5

______________________________2 Whitney T. Perkins: Constraint of Empire, Oxford: Clio Press, 1981, p 2813 Ibid, p 2824 Lance Selfa, International Socialist Review Issue 7, Spring 1999 U. S Imperialism: A Century of Slaughter.5 Ibid.

CHAPTER ONE

6

For instance, the territories acquired from Mexico whether by conquest or by purchase,

became states of the Republic. So too did Alaska and Hawaii; and although the time needed

to complete the necessary transformation before statehood became a reality was a long one,

the assumption always was present that independence or statehood was the goal. The safety

valve, mentioned earlier by T. Perkins, thus prevented the build-up within the colonies of a

long-term ruling elite imposed from outside.

The question is not, therefore, whether the United States or any other nation used power;

rather, the questions are, how was this power first mobilized against the less powerful, and

how it was ultimately employed? And in the answers to these two questions we may find

some areas of contrast between American and, as an example, British imperial experiences.

The facts are clear enough. Most observers would agree in identifying two major periods of

American expansion before 1939. The first of these, from perhaps 1803 until 1853, was a

period of internal growth, of movement across the land from the Eastern seaboard to the West

coast, and of two wars--that of 1812-1814 with Britain and the Mexican War of 1846-1848-

However, in 1853 the United States purchased an additional corner of land from Mexico for

ten million dollars, expansion within contiguous areas was complete.

Certainly the roots of the later period of American expansion overseas lie in the pre-Civil

War past, for it was then that the American idea of a national mission developed. The

secularisation of the earlier Puritan concepts, the growing sense of the covenant the American

people had made with themselves during the Revolution and within their Constitution, and the

heightened awareness of and belief in a unique American destiny, led many Americans

sincerely to support any of several arguments for expansion.

Because the United States had a continent to conquer, it developed its first empire

internally, incorporating territory into the body politic in a way that European nations having

to seek overseas outlets for their energies, their people, their goods, their investments, and

their doctrines, could neither understand nor attempt. Whitney T. Perkins thinks that “If

Britain's third empire lay in Africa, America's first empire lay at hand, merely across the wide

Missouri. An imperial democracy might grow within the continent. Thus continentalism, not

imperialism, occupied the driving American energies until near the end of the century.” 6

________________________6 Whitney T. Perkins: Constraint of Empire, Oxford: Clio Press, 1981, p 282

CHAPTER ONE

7

Ignatief suggests that “The actually existing American empire was acquired”, not in

a fit of absent-mindedness (as the British liked to claim), but in a state of denial7, The same

views were adopted by David Harvey who says that:

Imperial actions on the part of the United States were notto be talked of as such, nor were they allowed to have anyramifications for the domestic situation. It was this thatproduced 'empire lite' rather than an empire of solid, long-term commitment. There are plenty of people on what mightbe called the 'traditional left' who hold that the US has beenan imperial power for at least a century or more.8

Nontheless, he stresses that “analyses of American imperialism were available in the 1960s,

particularly focusing on the U.S role in Latin America and South-East Asia”. 9The strategy

that set the stage for US intervention in Vietnam—without recognizing the compelling need

felt on the part of business interests in the United States to keep as much of the world as

possible open to capital accumulation through the expansion of trade, commerce, and

opportunities for foreign investment.

It has been even more significantly ruthless abroad in sponsoring coups in Iran, Iraq,

Guatemala, Chile, Indonesia, and Vietnam (to name but a few), in which untold thousands

died. It has supported state terrorism throughout the world wherever it has been convenient.

David Harvey claims that the “ CIA and Special Forces units operate in innumerable

countries. Study of this record has led many to paint a portrait of the US as the greatest 'rogue

state' on earth. There is a major industry in doing so, beginning with Chomsky, Blum, Pilger,

Johnson, and many others”.10

The economic power to dominate (such as the trade embargo on Iraq and Cuba or IMF

austerity programmes implemented at the behest of the US Treasury) can be used with equally

destructive effect as physical force, as David Harvey argues that:

________________________________7 Michael Ignatieff, 'The Burden', New York Times, 5 Jan. 20038 David Harvey, The New Imperialism, 2003, p69 Ibid. p. 30.10 David Harvey, The New Imperialism,page 38

V

Abstract

The first chapter will deal with the background of the U.S. Imperialist policy,

definition of imperialism, American attitudes towards imperialism, their overseas policy

and examples of some imperialist cases such as Grenada, Panama and the Vietnam.

The second chapter will focus on the Vietnam War, the causes, and the attitudes of the

political powers at that time. The American War and the use of unconventional weapons

internationally banned such as Napalm and Agent Orange. We will focus, as well, on the

reactions of war in Vietnam through ambushes and general attacks such as the Tet Offensive;

and reactions in the U.S through student movements and media. At last we will discuss the

Vietnamisation and the U.S withdrawal from Vietnam.

The third and last chapter will be devoted to the implications of the Vietnam War on the

U.S. economy, domestic politics, society, and also its impact on the world. And how The

Vietnam War served to undercut much of the logic and rationale. It was used to justify

American support of authoritarian regimes. Dictatorships created political polarisation,

From Cuba to Iran to Nicaragua, and most tragically in Vietnam, the limits of this policy were

discovered.

Key words:

US Imperialism; US foreign policy; The Vietnam War; The second world war era; Liberation

movements; Students’ impacts; Cuba; Nicaragua; Panama; Iran.