Anti-war movement

An anti-war movement (also antiwar) is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybeexisting just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many activists distinguish between anti-war movements and peace movements. Anti-war activists work through protest and other grassroots means to attempt to pressure a government (or governments) to put an end to a particular war or conflict. Vietnam War Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began slowly and in small numbers in 1964 on various college campuses in the United States and grew into very large demonstrations from 1967 until 1971. Counter-cultural songs, organizations, and literary works such as MacBird! by Barbara Garson encouraged a spirit of non conformism, peace, and anti-establishmentarianism. This anti-war sentiment developed during a time of unprecedented student activism and just after the main events of America's Civil Rights Movement, and was reinforced in numbers by the demographically significant baby boomers. It quickly grew to include a wide and varied cross-section of Americans from all walks of life. The anti-Vietnam war movement is often considered to have been a major factor affecting America's involvement in the war itself. Many Vietnam veterans, including the present Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator John Kerry and disabled veteran Ron Kovic, spoke out against the Vietnam War on their return to the United States.

The peace movement

The peace movement began in the 1960s in the United States in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Some advocates within this movement advocated a unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam. The first U.S. anti-Vietnam protest was led in 1962 by Sam Marcy,[citation needed] founder of Workers World Party, a demonstration whose importance was noted by Ho Chi Minh in an interview published in the National Guardian newspaper. Opposition to the Vietnam War tended to unite groups opposed to U.S. anticommunism, imperialism and colonialism and, for those involved with the New Left, capitalism itself, such as the Catholic Worker Movement. Others, such as Stephen Spiro opposed the war based on the theory of Just War. Some critics of U.S. withdrawal predicted that it would not contribute to peace but rather vastly increased bloodshed. These critics advocated U.S. forces remain until all threats from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army had been eliminated. Advocates of U.S. withdrawal were generally known as "doves", and they called their opponents "hawks", following nomenclature dating back to the War of 1812. The imagery was intended to present the withdrawal advocates as peace-seeking and the withdrawal opponents as bad and predatory. The idea of a chickenhawk refers back to this time, to

describe those who had avoided dangerous military servicebefore they entered politics, but then advocated aggressive stances once in office. In 1965 the movement began to gain national prominence. Provocative actions by police and by protesters turned anti-war demonstrations in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention into a riot. Explosive news reports of American military abuses, such as the 1968 My Lai Massacre, brought new attention and support to the anti-war movement bringing it to its height. The movement continued to prosper over the span of the conflict. High-profile opposition to the Vietnam war turned to street protests in an effort to turn U.S. political opinion against the war. The protests gained momentum from the Civil Rights Movement that had organized to oppose segregation laws, which had laid a foundation of theory and infrastructure on which the anti-war movement grew. Protests were fueled by a growing network of independently published newspapers (known as "underground papers") and the timely advent of large venue rock'n'roll festivals such as Woodstock and Grateful Dead shows, attracting younger people in search of generational togetherness. The movement progressed from college campuses to middle-class suburbs, government institutions, and labor unions. The fatal shooting of four people at Kent State University cemented the resolve of many protesters. The Kent State shootings saw campuses erupt all across the country; in May 1970 many universities were strike-bound, for example at Wayne State University. Some veterans of the Vietnam War returned home to join the movement, including John Kerry, who spearheaded Vietnam Veterans Against the War and testified before Congress in televised hearings. Other U.S. veterans returned from the war saying that nobody wants to be in a war where people are suffering and dying, but that they found peace in their own minds by knowing they served their country. Some cited the words of George Washington's 1790 State of the Union Address: "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." Anti-war protests ended with the end of conscription and the final withdrawal of troops after the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. Momentum from the protest organizations became a main force for the growth of an environmental movement in the United States. The Peace Accords failed to bring Peace to Vietnam, as fighting resumed between the South Vietnamese government and the NVA. The United States resumed bombing of North Vietnam and provided funds and arms to the South Vietnamese government, but did not send ground troops back to South Vietnam. Many South Vietnamese fled to the United States. The peace movement had difficulty getting momentum to protest the renewed bloodshed. The North launched an offensive in 1975 that defeated Saigon and annexed South Vietnam to create the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Laos and Cambodia were overrun by Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge troops that same spring.

Napalm & Agent Orange Napalm U.S. troops used a substance known as napalm from about 1 965 to 1 97 2 in the Vietnam War; napalm is a mixture of plastic poly styrene, hydrocarbon benzene, and gasoline. This mixture creates a jelly -like substance that, when ignited, sticks to practically any thing and burns up to ten minutes. The effects of napalm on the human body are unbearably painful and almost always cause death among its victims. Napalm is the most terrible pain you can ever imagine said Kim Phc, a survivor from a napalm bombing. Water boils at 21 2F. Napalm generates temperatures1,500F to 2,200F. Kim Phc sustained third degree burns to portions of her body . She was one of the only survivors of such extreme measures Napalm was first used in flamethrowers for U.S. ground troops; they burned down sections of forest and bushes in hopes of eliminating any enemy guerrilla fighters. Later on in the war B52 Bombers began dropping napalm bombs and other incendiary explosives. Air raids that used napalm were much more devastating than flamethrowers; a single bomb was capable of destroying areas up to 2,500 square yards. Throughout the duration of the war, 1 965 1 97 3, eight million tons of bombs were dropped over Vietnam; this was more than three times the amount used in WWII. Agent Orange Agent Orange is a toxic chemical herbicide that was used from about 1 965 1 97 0 in the Vietnam War. It was one of the main mixtures used during Operation Ranch Hand. Operation Ranch Hand was intended to deprive Vietnamese farmers and guerrilla fighters of clean food and water in hopes they would relocate to areas more heavily controlled by the U.S. By the end of the operation over twenty million gallons of herbicides and defoliants were sprayed over forests and fields. Agent Orange is fifty times more concentrated than normal agricultural herbicides; this extreme intensity completely destroyed all plants in the area. Agent Orange not only had devastating effects on agriculture but also on people and animals. The Vietnam Red Cross recorded over 4.8 million deaths and 400,000 children born with birth defects due to exposure to Agent Orange. Agent Orange was later determined to be in violation of the Geneva Contract. U.S. troops gradually stopped using Agent Orange and any other harmful herbicides.