acadmic writing history

The My Lai Massacre in the Vietnam War (March 1968) Description The Vietnam War was America’s longest and most unresolved military conflict in Asia. During the war and continuing today, the American public has disputed about their attitudes toward U.S. participation in the war. The United States first became involved in Vietnam after World War II, when France was struggling to regain colonial control. In 1945, Ho Chi-Minh, the Vietnamese revolutionary leader, struggled against the French to fight for national independence. By 1950, the United States supported the French efforts to hold onto Vietnam because Washington saw the situation in Vietnam through the lens of the Cold War. Ho Chi-Minh’s anti-colonial struggles worried the West, and the United States decided to engage in a civil war between North and South Vietnam, one in which it sought to halt the spread of communism. But the lines between North and South had always been permeable. There were many North Vietnamese (Vietcong) sympathizers in South Vietnam. It became increasingly difficult for American soldiers to distinguish the Vietnamese whom they were fighting to protect. The Vietcong guerrilla warfare took its toll on American soldiers. Racism also played a part in distancing the American soldiers from the horror of war for the Vietnamese civilians. The Vietnamese were referred to as slopes, gooks, and slant-eyes. The My Lai Massacre (pronounced mee-lye in Vietnamese) was the killing of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese, mostly women and children, in My Lai village, by the American soldiers on March 16, 1968. The massacre took place during the last stage of the Tet Offensive, the Vietcong’s massive invasion of South Vietnam. By this time, American troops had been in Vietnam since 1963, with victory far from sight. The American soldiers repelled the attack, but at home the Tet Offensive was a political disaster, precipitating Lyndon Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the 1968 presidential election. In 1969, the news of the My Lai massacre, and the Army’s attempt at a cover-up drove home to Americans the tragedies of fighting in Vietnam. Sources & Questions The package consists of the testimonies of the American soldiers involved in the My Lai massacre (pp.44-85, pp.117-143), and the testimonies of the Vietnamese survivors (pp.97-108). Please also review the articles in [Course Documents – Blackboard] on the use of Agent Orange and the My Lai massacre. Please address the following questions in an essay form: From your reading of the testimonies, how do you explain what happened at My Lai? Would you consider the massacre to be a war crime? What does the My Lai massacre tell you about the nature of evil in warfare? Would you regard those soldiers involved in the killing as evil or as “normal persons in abnormal circumstances”? Were there any heroes at My Lai? What makes a person to be able to act responsibly and sensibly in warfare? What should be the rules of military engagement with respect to the treatment of civilians in warfare? Who should be considered a civilian or a non-combatant? Should there be special rules regarding the treatment of [unarmed] women and children in wartime? What do you think of the significance of My Lai? Does it change your personal opinion of the Vietnam War? Are there any similarities and differences between My Lai and the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? In your opinion, what needs to be done to prevent such tragedies from happening in wartime? I need someone who's really has information about Vietnam War: US Geopolitics in Southeast Asia, Agent Orange and My Lai history and i need you answer this questions and write it in four pages as essay please find the attachments is gonna help u to answer the questions