In 1970, President Nixon defended the US troop movement into Cambodia, saying that the operation would provide six to eight months of time for training South Vietnamese forces, thus shortening the war for Americans. Nixon reaffirmed his promise to withdraw 150,000 American soldiers by the following spring.
The announcement that the US and South Vietnamese troops had invaded Cambodia resulted in a firestorm of protests and gave the antiwar movement a new rallying point. College students across the US intensified their antiwar protests with marches, rallies, and scattered incidents of violence. About 400 schools were affected by strikes and more than 200 colleges and universities closed completely. The protests resulted in deaths at Kent State University and later at Jackson State in Mississippi.
More than 250 State Department and foreign aid employees signed a letter to the Secretary of State, William Rogers, criticizing US military involvement in Cambodia. In addition, there were a series of congressional resolutions and legislative initiatives that attempted to limit severely the executive war-making powers of the president. Senators Cooper and Church proposed an amendment to the foreign military sales portion of a Defense Department appropriations bill that would have barred funds for future military operations in Cambodia. The bill passed in the Senate but was defeated in the House. On December 29th, 1970, Congress passed a modified version of the Cooper-Church Amendment barring the introduction of US ground troops in Laos or Thailand.
2 comments:
Your description of the Cambodian incursion and national reactions was very informative. Expanding US military involvement to outside Vietnam was definitely a risky move - it brought allies of North Vietnam one step closer to joining the war. The protests that erupted as a result and the shooting at Kent State University revealed how the Vietnam War was also tearing the nation apart. The modified Cooper-Church Amendment may have temporarily mollified both sides but wasn't a permanent solution to the crisis in Vietnam.
This action shows how difficult it was for the President to handle Vietnam because an action that could have been seen as advantageous in terms of winning the war was poorly received back at home.
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