President Nixons Secret Bombing of Cambodia Essay -- American America

In the 1960s and 1970s, the most controversial war the United States had ever been involved in during its rich two-hundred year history would engulf the country, ultimately leading to the collapse of a president, and the division of a nation. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam and neighboring countries from 1959-1975 involving the North Vietnamese and NLF (National Liberation Front) versus the United States and the South Vietnamese ("The Vietnam..."). In 1969, newly elected President Richard M. Nixon, aiming to achieve "peace with honor" in Vietnam, began to put his "Vietnamization" policy into place -- removing the number of American military personnel in the country and transferring combat roles to the South Vietnamese ("Speeches..."). But at the same time, Nixon resumed the secret bombing of North Vietnam and launched B-52 bombing raids over Cambodia, intending to wipe out NLF and North Vietnamese base camps along the border. The intensive secret bombing, co denamed Operation Menu, lasted for four years and was intentionally concealed from the American public; meanwhile, Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia by United States troops, arguing that it was necessary to protect the security of American units. This invasion into an allegedly neutral country was cause for much protest in the States, especially on college campuses such as Kent State University, where students rioted and held walk-outs. Ultimately, the secret bombing of neutral Cambodia was deliberately conducted without the consent of Congress, violating the articles outlined in the United States Constitution, and would have been grounds for impeachment had Nixon not resigned under the cloud of the Watergate scandal in August of 1974 ("Richard M.... ...ple Mystified as Direct U.S. Role Ends At a Time of Military Adversity. New York Times 15 August 1973. Public Broadcasting System (PBS). The American Experience: Vietnam. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/109ts.html> Accessed 5 March 2001. Richard M. Nixon: Foreign Affairs. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. <http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/3/0,5716,57373+6+55968,00.html> Accessed 3 March 2001. Speeches by Richard M. Nixon: Vietnamization. Texas A&M University. <http://www.tamu.edu/scom/pres/speeches/rmnvietnam.html> Accessed 4 March 2001. The Vietnam War. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. <http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,77300+1+75317,00.html> Accessed 3 March 2001. Vassar College. President Nixons Speech on Cambodia: April 30, 1970. <http://students.vassar.edu/~vietnam/doc15.html> Accessed 28 February 2001.