Did Nixon's bombing of North Vietnam achieve its goal?
1 Answer
The evidence would suggest that it didn't.
Explanation:
Like many bombing campaigns, the assumption was that strategies such as Operation Rolling Thunder would prevail as the superior technology and wealth of the USA, when brought to bear would destroy the North Vietnamese infrastructure and bring about an American victory.
However the bombing strengthened North Vietnamese resolve. One could compare such a reaction to the British during the Blitz in 1940.
It also has to be analysed within the overall situation. On the surface the Vietnam war was such a mismatch that an American victory should have been inevitable. However the Americans found to their cost that such superiority did not guarantee victory.
The lack of an overall strategy, the corruption of the South Vietnamese government, the determination of the communists, the media coverage; all were factors amongst others, which led to a humiliating American withdrawal in 1973. The bombing of North Vietnam reflected and was part of this failure.
