Craig Jones
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198842927
- eISBN:
- 9780191878824
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198842927.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter argues that the US-led war in Vietnam (1955–1975) paved the way for institutional changes in the US military, including the establishment of the US Law of War Program, which later ...
More
This chapter argues that the US-led war in Vietnam (1955–1975) paved the way for institutional changes in the US military, including the establishment of the US Law of War Program, which later precipitated the emergence of a new doctrinal approach to the laws of war called ‘operational law’. Military lawyers emerged from the Vietnam War better equipped and with a formal mandate to advise military commanders on the legality of targeting operations. Military lawyers performed a wide range of duties in Vietnam, especially around Prisoner of War (POW) issues, and were deployed in unprecedented numbers. Military lawyers were not involved in targeting, neither during ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ nor ‘Operation Linebacker’, but the Vietnam War in general and the My Lai massacre of 1968 in particular helped to create the conditions for their involvement in subsequent wars.Less
This chapter argues that the US-led war in Vietnam (1955–1975) paved the way for institutional changes in the US military, including the establishment of the US Law of War Program, which later precipitated the emergence of a new doctrinal approach to the laws of war called ‘operational law’. Military lawyers emerged from the Vietnam War better equipped and with a formal mandate to advise military commanders on the legality of targeting operations. Military lawyers performed a wide range of duties in Vietnam, especially around Prisoner of War (POW) issues, and were deployed in unprecedented numbers. Military lawyers were not involved in targeting, neither during ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ nor ‘Operation Linebacker’, but the Vietnam War in general and the My Lai massacre of 1968 in particular helped to create the conditions for their involvement in subsequent wars.
Ingo Trauschweizer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780813177007
- eISBN:
- 9780813177038
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813177007.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Military History
In this chapter I explore Taylor’s role in the American escalation in Vietnam in 1964-1965, when he served as ambassador in Saigon. Lyndon Johnson put Taylor in charge of all American assets and ...
More
In this chapter I explore Taylor’s role in the American escalation in Vietnam in 1964-1965, when he served as ambassador in Saigon. Lyndon Johnson put Taylor in charge of all American assets and agencies in Vietnam, including the military effort. Taylor feared the spread of Communism and held that Vietnam was the place to stop the spread of “wars of national liberation.” Taylor was a vocal advocate for air strikes against North Vietnam, yet he opposed deployment of large numbers of US ground forces and wanted to leave the fighting to the South Vietnamese army. By the end of his tenure, however, the United States was committed to an air and land war in Vietnam and Taylor would become one of the war’s most ardent defenders.Less
In this chapter I explore Taylor’s role in the American escalation in Vietnam in 1964-1965, when he served as ambassador in Saigon. Lyndon Johnson put Taylor in charge of all American assets and agencies in Vietnam, including the military effort. Taylor feared the spread of Communism and held that Vietnam was the place to stop the spread of “wars of national liberation.” Taylor was a vocal advocate for air strikes against North Vietnam, yet he opposed deployment of large numbers of US ground forces and wanted to leave the fighting to the South Vietnamese army. By the end of his tenure, however, the United States was committed to an air and land war in Vietnam and Taylor would become one of the war’s most ardent defenders.
