Vietnams
Hanoi and Saigon's countries
Vietnams is the plural of Vietnam, used to invoke comparisons to the Vietnam War—a prolonged, costly military engagement with unclear objectives and doubtful prospects for success.
When critics warn that a conflict could become another Vietnam or multiple Vietnams, they mean quagmires that drain resources and political will without achieving victory.
Afghanistan became one of America's Vietnams.
Opposition between parties
- Ho Chi MinhVietnamese nationalist leader
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- Viet CongVietnamese communist guerrilla force
- napalmFlammable gel for bombs
Agent Orange · helicopter · jungle warfare · draft · veteran · POW · Tet Offensive · Saigon
Prolonged East-West standoff
- proxy warConflict fought through intermediaries
- communismCollective ownership system
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- domino theoryContagious political collapse belief
superpower · China · Soviet Union · reunification · partition · North · South · colonialism
Soft, wet ground
- entanglementState of being intertwined
- unwinnableImpossible to triumph in
- stalemateMutual obstruction preventing progress
- escalationProgressive increase in intensity
intervention · occupation · insurgency · exit strategy · mission creep · blunder · fiasco · morass
conflict
Opposition between parties
- Ho Chi MinhVietnamese nationalist leader
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- Viet CongVietnamese communist guerrilla force
napalm · Agent Orange · helicopter · jungle warfare · draft · veteran · POW · Tet Offensive · Saigon · Hanoi
Cold War
Prolonged East-West standoff
- proxy warConflict fought through intermediaries
- communismCollective ownership system
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
domino theory · superpower · China · Soviet Union · reunification · partition · North · South · colonialism · French Indochina
quagmire
Soft, wet ground
- entanglementState of being intertwined
- unwinnableImpossible to triumph in
- stalemateMutual obstruction preventing progress
escalation · intervention · occupation · insurgency · exit strategy · mission creep · blunder · fiasco · morass · quicksand
- Vietnam WarCold-era Indochina military engagement
- Vietnamese peopleInhabitants of Indochina's east
- Vietnam vetSoutheast Asian conflict veteran
- southern VietnamPeninsula's lower half
- North VietnamFormerly divided nation's communist half
- Vietnam veteranOne who served in Indochina