Vietnamization

Vietnamization was an exit strategy developed by the Nixon administration to reduce the presence of US troops in the Vietnam War. The goal of the strategy was to train and equip South Vietnam’s forces so that they could play a prominent role in combat. This would allow the US government to begin the process of reducing US troops and eventually their withdrawal. The policy did not achieve these intended consequences. As Willbanks (2004), discussed in his article the exit strategy allowed the United States to leave the war but did not effectively prepare South Vietnam to defend itself.

There were many difficulties with executing Vietnamization as an exit strategy. The strategy began to be implemented too late in the war as it then required millions of dollars to be implemented. A considerable amount of blame has been placed on the South Vietnam troops. A lack of strong leadership coupled with corruption in the forces reduced their ability to efficiently fight against the North Vietnam troops. The amount of money that was poured into training the South Vietnam troops was not effective as they were unable to face the North Vietnam troops once the US withdrew from the war. The exit strategy was also limited in that it only tried to prepare South Vietnam to be equipped militarily. A focus on creating a functioning government was excluded that resulted in a nation that was unable to both govern and protect itself. The exit strategy also did not have clear benchmarks for when the US should completely withdraw their troops. This resulted in a complete withdrawal of the troops before the South Vietnam military was able to protect their country. The mistakes that were made during Vietnamization appeared to have been forgotten by the US government as a similar approach has been attempted in the conflict zone of Afghanistan. The strategies serve as exit strategies alone for US troops rather than stabilization strategies that would allow occupied nations to thrive without the presence of the US government. 

Reference

Willbanks, James H. (2004). Vietnamization: An incomplete exit strategy. Turning Victory into Success: Military Operations After the Campaign. 135–67.