The Case For and Against Military Withdrawal from Vietnam and Korea

Abstract

The pros and cons of rapid military withdrawal from Vietnam are both strong, but in the public debate are not mutually responsive. The case against rapid withdrawal from Vietnam rests on the presumed danger of the precedent of broken United States commitments, the blow to the viability of divided states elsewhere, the increase in the prestige of China, the domino theory, the encouragement of other wars of liberation. The case for withdrawal, based on a notion of the demise of the monolithic, unalterably aggressive nature of world communism, argues that Southeast Asia is not of vital interest to us, that Hanoi's actions are, if not justified, understandable, and that Communist governments in Southeast Asia are neither particularly dangerous to us nor anathema to their populaces. Vietnamization has many advantages for us, but, given a weak government, runs the risk of a failure, endangering American troops. Troops should be withdrawn from South Korea, both for its good and our own.