With the Vietnam conflict still showing no tangible results, the American public was increasingly against the continuation of the war. More and more prominent politicians were calling for the removal of American troops. Nixon realized that no end was near and he was unwilling to accept a compromise “that would amount to a disguised American defeat.” (1) So, he began two initiatives, one of withdrawing American troops and one of negotiating with the North Vietnamese. (2)

The Vietnamization was not designed to produce a victory, but to replace the American lives with South Vietnamese. The Nixon administration was looking for “peace with honor.” They were looking for a way out of the war without defaulting the entire nation to the communist North. For Nixon, “The important thing w

The pacification effort was suffering as well. Few Americans could distinguish between North and South Vietnamese, much less understand their language. As a result of this unfamiliarity and the stresses of war many innocent Vietnamese were killed or imprisoned in harsh conditions following skirmishes and as a result of Operation Phoenix. (8) The South Vietnamese noticed all of these things as well as their communities being increasingly Americanized. This only led to further spite and mistrust of the American military during this pivotal military turnover.

Not only was the troop reduction hurting negotiations and funding prospects; it was also hurting morale. Many of the soldiers disagreed with the war to begin with, but knowing that the US was on their way out made them question further their purpose in Vietnam. Many soldiers attitudes shifted from a sense of duty to just trying to stay alive until they are pulled out. (5) Drugs were running rampant as 65000 GI’s were reportedly on drugs by 1970. (6) These things undoubtedly affected their attitude toward the Vietnamese and their own military duty. Life became unreal to many servicemen and atrocities such as “fragging” (murdering an officer, typically with a grenade) became all too common. (7)

Not only were the South Vietnamese having trouble getting along with the US, their arm

Some topics in this essay:
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