The Impact of the Tet Offensive

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This last statement is completely valid and the decisive year was 1968. Many events both in the U.S. and abroad caused policymakers to reassess the commitment to containment. It was during this year that the U.S. realized that the cost of containment was too high and leaders began to look for ways to leave Vietnam.
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<br>First, in January 1968, Vietcong forces launched the Tet Offensive. Coordinated attacks were launched throughout South Vietnam. Vietcong forces directed their assaults on major urban areas and military installations in order to spark an uprising against the Saigon regime and its U.S. allies. U.S. troops engaged in heavy fighting and eventually regained lost territory however the losses were high. Most importantly, as a result of the surprise attack and the media coverage from Saigon, the U.S. press and public began to challenge President Johnson's administration and it assurances of success. Additionally many questioned the value of the increasingly costly war.
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<br>At the same time as the Tet Offensive, the siege of Khe Sanh underscored the image of the war as an endless, costly and pointless ...