...The Vietnam War “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” This quote from John. F Kerry shows the reality of the Vietnam War. This war persisted for almost 20 years, and it ended in stalemate. Many Americans were protesting the war at home. Protests occurred all throughout the war, but many of the people in the United States were not aware what the war was like until the media covered Hamburger Hill. Even after ten days of bloody battle, the UN forces decided to abandon the hill, and it was later reclaimed by North Vietnam. Many American citizens thought of the war as pointless, as the troops had no place in this civil war between North and...
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...U.S. Losses in Vietnam What did the United States lose in Vietnam? During the visit in Vietnam the United States lost the support of friends and family at home in the United States, soldiers, and even resources. The conflicts and actions that occurred in Vietnam during the war affected the United States tremendously with the support that was given to our soldiers from family and friends from home. Because of the strategies and the actions that the U.S. soldiers conducted were inhuman in other words cruel to the victims of their actions. The support given to the soldiers in the beginning of the war, did not result in the same way as the war came to a conclusion. There were many events that occurred during the Vietnam war that were injustice crimes that should have never occurred. One event that occurred was, Agent...
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...Rudimentary forms of chemical and biological weapons have existed for thousands of years, and in the last century there has been an explosion of chemical and biological weapon technology and development. World War I was the infancy of modern chemical weapons and since then they have become an even more deadly and systematic form of killing. Many nations, including the United States, still have thousands of tons of chemical agents that lie in storage. In the hands of the wrong person, they could wreak absolute havoc on the environment and population. The United States, along with all other nations should not continue to stockpile and produce biological and chemical weapons because the use of them is immoral, and totally inconsistent with the policies of a country that is a leader. The destruction and loss of innocent lives...
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... JULY 20, 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING EC21FB1 The environmental perils of war focus on the modernization of warfare and its destructive effect on the environment. Scorched earth methods have been used for much of recorded history. However, methods of modern warfare cause far greater devastation on the environment. The progression of warfare from chemical weapons to nuclear weapons has increasingly created stress on ecosystems and the environment such as Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange is one of the potent herbicides used as a defoliant by the U.S. military in its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War. The name Agent Orange comes from the containers that it was stored in, which had an orange stripe. The U.S. military deployed almost 20 million gallons of herbicides from 1962 to 1971. Among these substances, Agent Orange was the most widely used herbicide, around 11 million gallons. The Vietnamese had the geographical advantages so they used Agent Orange, a mixture of toxins, to remove leaves from trees and bushes, leaving the enemies more exposed. However, the persistent nature of dioxins, erosion caused by loss of tree cover and loss of seedling forest stock meant that reforestation was difficult or nearly impossible in many areas. It has also been linked to many health problems in Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese civilians which caused thousands to die from conditions likely brought on by exposure...
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...Foreign policy, whether for or against, seems to be the center or major problem in most of the international incidences, that have occurred recently. A) Two or three (2-3) international events from the past five years that can be traced back to a foreign policy created after the Civil War. 1. Sri Lankan government policy towards India against support of China - Sri Lankan government had a foreign policy towards India that was not supportive of China and that has led to a strained relationship between these two Nations. Tamilian issues were not completely addressed by Sri Lankan foreign policy and the recent atrocities against Tamil provoked the Tamilnadu state to pressurize the central government though this is Sri Lanka internal policy but in its foreign policy they couldn’t relate to the sentiments of Tamil people in India. The Indian government did not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Summit which was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The protest of the Sri Lankan Government towards the Tamils of Sri Lanka forced the Prime minister of India to stay away from the CHOGM summit. The long civil war with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka did not patch up the relations between Sri Lanka and Tamilnadu and Tamil people forced Prime minister of India to boycott CHOGM. 2. Somalia’s foreign policy influenced by Muslim fundamentalism - In Somalia, the foreign policy...
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...The use of of napalm in the period of the now infamous Vietnam War is prolific, to say the least. Napalm has now permeated the cultural form so much the sole fact that it is mentioned still raises heads today. Because of the adamant use of napalm as a weapon of mass destruction wiping out entire kilometers of houses, plant life, and really just wiping out entire villages and small cities among the heat dreaded jungles of Vietnam, were under great leaves the Vietnameses would hide to surprise the American soldier who came to slap the communist hand away from the rest of the major part of Capitalist Asia, of course America did not do this out of pure will and generosity, the white man had his hands dipped deep into the mud of Vietnam , mud in...
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...Agent Orange and Napalm were types of gases used in Vietnam to cause a great deal of destruction. Agent orange was used as a powerful mixture of chemicals by the Us against Vietnam to eliminate the Vietnamese and the Viet Cong soldiers. The release of Agent Orange was codenamed Operation Ranch Hand.There were more than 19 million gallons used to overed a great amount of land over Vietnam. It caused many health issues to those who breathed in the gas, Americans and Vietnamese. Napalm was also used in the Vietnam war to stop the Vietnamese. Napalm was a mixture of plastic polystyrene, hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. Both of these very poisonous and caused a lot of damage during the Vietnam war. From 1961-1972 the U.S. wanted to do a wide-scale damage on the forests in Vietnam where all the Viet Cong and soldiers were to cause damage. For Agent Orange the U.S aircrafts used this to spray the area, affecting the forests and everything in it. Agent Orange had many herbicides in it and many other poisonous components in it, it was highly toxic having affected Vietnam’s crops and water sources so anyone eating or drinking water were affected by the poison. It had caused many health problems such as: muscular dysfunction, birth defects, nervous system disorders, etc. It...
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...Assignment 2.2: Policeman of the World Final Paper Professor: Reagan Smith HIS105 – Contemporary U.S. History 3/15/14 Since gaining independence from the British in 1776, the United States foreign policy over the years has gone from expansionist to isolationism to defending democracy. With the responsibility of defending democratic rights for those who cannot defend themselves, the United States in my opinion has taken on the role of “policeman of the world.” This role became more evident with the use of U.S. military force in international incidents like U.S. intervention in the 2011 Libyan Civil War to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and U.S. involvement in the 2011 Yemeni Civil War protesting the leadership of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Despite the United States being hailed as a defender of democracy by some, their actions are usually not selfless. In both situations protecting United States interests was a major factor. Both Libya and Yemen are hot beds for terrorist activity by radical groups like al-Qaeda. The United States keeps tabs on the activities of these groups in an effort to intercept information to thwart acts of terrorism, particularly against Americans. Leadership in these vulnerable countries is of great interest to the United States because some regimes are sympathetic to these militant groups. A lack of clear leadership in these countries also poses a threat to U.S. interests because a lapse in leadership can lead to militant...
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...Policemen of the World Assignment 2.2: Final Paper Erika Wood Contemporary U.S. History September 9, 2014 Since gaining independence from the British in 1776, the United States foreign policy over the years has gone from expansionist to isolationism to defending democracy. With the responsibility of defending democratic rights for those who cannot defend themselves, the United States in my opinion has taken on the role of “policeman of the world.” This role became more evident with the use of U.S. military force in international incidents like U.S. intervention in the 2011 Libyan Civil War to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and U.S. involvement in the 2011 Yemeni Civil War protesting the leadership of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Regardless of the United States being hailed as a defender of democracy by some, their actions are usually not selfless. In both situations protecting United States interests was a major factor. Both Libya and Yemen are hot beds for terrorist activity by radical groups like al-Qaeda. The United States keeps tabs on the activities of these groups in an effort to intercept information to thwart acts of terrorism, particularly against Americans. Leadership in these vulnerable countries is of great interest to the United States because some regimes are sympathetic to these militant groups. A lack of clear leadership in these countries also poses a threat to U.S. interests because a lapse in leadership can lead to militant groups...
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...Throughout history there has been war. Wars can be fought over many things; religion, money, resources. There has also been a struggle for morality and chivalry. Even in war. Some nations and armies follow rules and follow certain codes of combat. Others do not (David French). This is one of our nation’s problems today. Our nation follows the Rules of Engagement and the Law of War. Many argue that these rules hurt our soldiers and allow survival for enemy forces (David French). Should we have a code? Should we have rules? That is the question that we are facing. The rules of engagement are part of international law that governs the conduct of armed hostilities. The Laws of War have been put in place to protect the innocent and to prevent unnecessary suffering...
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...Many historians viewed Kennedy as a young, naïve president who lacked a clear policy but the counter argument is that Kennedy was decisive and assertive. In order to judge whether John F. Kennedy lacked a clear policy in Vietnam we have to compare the policies of Dwight Eisenhower’s in Vietnam and John F. Kennedys policies and how it contradicted with their ideologies. The view by some historians is that The Dwight Eisenhower foreign policy was popularly known as the “New Look”. This policy aimed to maintain the American financial economy while Eisenhower was planning the Cold war and continue the containment of communism regime. Also, the “New look” policy relied heavily on nuclear weapons to stop communism. Therefore the policy was been...
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...Chemical Warfare is a war involving toxic chemicals as weapons. Chemical Warfare is a different from a Nuclear or Biological Warfare. Nuclear Warfare involves weapons such as the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima, biological warfare is where infectious items such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi are used to eliminate plants or humans, but our main topic is chemical warfare and this types of wars use toxic chemicals to damage your sight, your body system, and to cause death. All of the chemicals used for weapons would cause different symptoms and different forms of death. Different types of chemicals are classified as agents. The agents are blistering agents, blood agents, nerve agents, and RCA agents which are mostly used on large violent crowds or riots. Some chemicals cause illusions or make you hallucinate that may last for days or hours. Chemical warfare was first introduced in World...
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...of the World History 105 Even though some feel that we should not get involved in other countries problems; like in Afghanistan and now Syria and the Isis threat, The United States need to protect their own because we need to safeguard our freedom at any cost and Americans are willing to give their lives for this protection. Early this year, the U.S. gave Syria weapons to assist with their fight against ISIS, a militant group that is rumored to be associated with Al Qaeda. This type of advanced weaponry will give the rebels a more even playing field to win the fight in their Civil War. These actions can be related to the Lend-Lease Act of 1941. (Knickmeyer, 2014) The Lend-Lease Act was passed March 1941, it was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. The act permitted the United States to support its war interests without getting directly involved. (Foner, 1991) In 2013, there was a Sarin gas attack on the civilians of Syria. Sarin is a deadly gas and at least 355 people died. The U.S. has been keeping a watchful eye on the civil war in Syria but did not assist or get involved until 2014. (Reals, 2013) This can be related to the Isolationism, which is when the U.S. was reluctant to get involved in European alliances after WWII. (Isolationism, n.d.) Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, Adolph Hitler killed himself on May 1st 65 years ago when he knew he was going to be captured. When the people...
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...The effects to the environment and humankind caused by war Cause and Effect Essay Professor Kelly Gehlhoff Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for English 112 English Composition Two Pueblo, Colorado May 2012 Abstract War causes devastating and often irreversible effects to both humans and the earth. Throughout history, armies have burned the enemy’s crops, rivers have been damed, and water supplies have been poisoned, all in the name of war. The consequences these wars have on humankind include death, injury, dislocation, and malnutrition, which falls hand and hand with the destruction of the environment. Warfare is a terrible thing, bombs destroy life, tanks and other military vehicles damage ecosystems beyond repair, battleships pollute the oceans, and chemical and nuclear weapons have the potential to end life on this planet. The effects to the environment and humankind caused by war In the recent past there have been tragic results of war on the environment and humans, from World War I to the present day Gulf Wars. The ultimate fear is that war will have taken such a toll on the Earth, its inhabitants, and its natural resources that there will not be a world left for humankind to live in. Armed forces destroy their own ecosystems, as well those of the enemy, to win wars. Forests may be stripped of all timber to eliminate hiding places and oil wells, fresh water, crops, land and the animals are ruined to...
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...Thomas Zervas Vietnam Wars 4/29/12 Final Essay Winning The Vietnam War When most people think about winning a war they usually base their opinions on death counts and conquered territories. When looking at the Vietnam War, it is clear to see that the Vietnamese had a larger death count, however this does not mean that the United States was victorious. The United States entered the war to reach an objective, and that objective was to stop communist expansion. The goal was not achieved; therefore, the United States lost the war. True, there were more casualties in the North, but that does not determine whether or not they lost, especially when considering the superior technology and training of United States forces. When looking at the Vietnam proxy war fought between the United States and Soviet Union, the United States was impacted a number of ways, both domestically and internationally. There was a huge lack of public support for the stagnating war effort combined with a lack of support for soldiers that adversely affected the morale of the troops. There were body bag counts on the evening news showing the large numbers of lost soldiers to the population. There were also many protests, which created much tension and heavy scrutiny on the United States government. On a global scale, the United States began to look weaker than the Soviet Union, which created many more issues for the United States. The North Vietnamese won the Vietnam War through a combination of factors...
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