First let’s review Vietnam as a state. The boundaries of the state are obviously defined and association of people is established. Many groups of people, or nationalities, reside within the state. But Vietnam seemed to be lacking in the third criteria, organization through efficient decision-making and political stability. The government of South Vietnam was unorganized and unstable. The citizens of the state gave little support. The military forces lacked in strength and in substance. Thus a security dilemma had formed and threat from a power group, the communists, was inevitable. During the early 1960s, “a movement known as the National Liberation Front, Vietnamese Communists or Viet Cong, fought to overthrow the government of South Vietnam.” (Ziegler, 89) United States, a democratic ally of Vietnam, was concerned with this threat of communist take over. Government officials felt the take over of Vietnam would create a domino effect and Southeast Asia would tumble behind it, thus creating a rise of another major world power. Such rise would threaten the safety of the United Stated international position and perhaps cause an another world war. In the beginning the United States only aided South Vietnam’s unstable military and government financially and through advisors. But the Viet Cong seemed more organized and determined to defend their cause. South Vietnam was losing and the United States, feeling threatened by the communists’ rebellion, had to step in. The U.S. committed 20,000 troops to aid the South Vietnamese military. The American troops were well trained for combat, but nothing could prepare them for the fighting they experienced in Vietnam. Vietnam was made of rice paddies and jungle; very different from the terrain used to train troops in America. The battle seemed to be moving rapidly in the wrong direction, that of communist North Vietnam. The decision to commit troops into the war was qui...
