Talk:Vietnam, war, and the United States
Discussion of the antiwar movement from previous main article
I've brought over the text about the antiwar movement from the Vietnam War article. From personal recollection as well as a wide range of sources, this needs work; it emphasizes one point of view. Those in opposition were not merely radical students; indeed, some of the opposition was from "hawkish" critics that wanted the military to take decisive action rather than the administration's gradual pressure.
Text from article
Antiwar movement
While Washington tried to keep the war quiet, radical college students in the US launched a noisy antiwar protest movement with teach-ins and rallies. Their efforts were counterproductive, because they forced millions of Americans who might have had doubts about the war to support the Administration for patriotic reasons.
The antiwar credo focused on the illegality and immorality of American action, and praised the heroic peasants fighting western imperialism. Much was made of napalm and forced resettlement, to create a sense of American guilt rather than reflect empathy with the Vietnamese. After the war, protesters maintained the guilt theme, but forgot about the Vietnamese. Senator Fulbright, the most prominent dove, lacked empathy with the Vietnamese. As a believer in white supremacy, he believed white Americans should not die to save an inferior colored race.[1] The most prominent military "dove" was retired Marine Corps Commandant David Shoup. He argued in 1967 that Americans should ignore the issue of freedom in Asia because, "I don't think the whole of Southeast Asia, as related to the present and future safety and freedom of the people of this country, is worth the life and limb of a single American." The Vietnamese, he added, "have no idea of our meaning of freedom." [2] Until Tet in early 1968, the clear majority of Americans (including students) took a "hawkish" stance on the war.