ck and unorganized; too many hands were in the pot. Government officials did not allow the military leaders do their jobs. Linden Johnson was blamed for strategically planning target points in the basement of the White House. Combined with the determination of North Vietnam, the chaos of South Vietnam government and the disorganization of American involvement, the Viet Cong were rapidly winning the war. During the summer of 1965, the United States needed to reevaluate their position in Vietnam. The American resources were draining rapidly, thousand of American troops were being killed everyday, and the South Vietnamese citizens doubted the ability of American troops to win the war. Political officials were faced with a decision of a lifetime. Citizens in the United States began to resent the war and peace movements to end the war popped up overnight. Many asked the question of why United States became involved in the first place. Why defend a state whose government is not backed by its own people? Young men were dying in the hundreds every day and for whose cause. America should pull out of the war and spare the hundreds of lives already stationed in Vietnam. Or should they? United States had committed to aiding the Vietnam government from the beginning. If troops were to be pulled out in the middle of the war, the United States would lose face to the other major powers; making themselves vulnerable in wars to come. But the possibility of winning the war would mean a commitment of 500,000 more troops and even that did not guarantee a victory. By this time it had become apparent that with the fall of South Vietnam, the likelihood of Southeast Asia falling to communism was rare. But the United States had never lost a war and former President Johnson did not want to be the first. So after many meetings with his advisors, Johnson decided to escalate into the Vietnam War and committed 500,000 more troops. Well everybody knows the outcome of ...
