bombing of laos and cambodia

• What did Nixon decide to do before withdrawing?

  Destroy as many Vietcong bases as possible - many were in the Ho chi Minh trail through Cambodia + Laos
• Why did Nixon decide to bomb them?

  needed to widen the war to end it
• When did Nixon approve the bombing of Cambodia?

  March 1969, to destroy Vietcong bases
• Why did Nixon hide the bombing of Cambodia?

  To avoid protest however the bombing failed
• When did Nixon invade Cambodia/send more troops to vietnam?

  In April 1970, Cambodia was invaded and 150,000 more troops were sent to Vietnam
• What were the Cambodians reaction?

  Communist group Khmer Rouge claimed the us wanted control of Cambodia and protested
• When were n.v troops in Laos attacked?

  February 1971 - ARVN were trained and equips enough but were quickly beaten back by north Vietnamese troops
• How did north Vietnam respond to the invasions?

  Launched an attack on south Vietnam in spring 1972- proved vietnamization wasn't working
• How did Laos respond?

  Communist group Pathet Lao took control of the country by 1973
• What happened in talks between Nixon and the soviet in 1970?

  >talks to limit the amount of WMDS both counties held

  >US tried to get the Soviet's to pressure north Vietnam into ending the war
• What happened in talks between Nixon and the china in 1972?

  >Nixon was the first president to visit communist china

  >h3 tried to get the Chinese to pressure north Vietnam into ending the war
• Give 3 reasons the bombing was justified?

  >bombing the ho chi min trail blocked supplies and weakened the enemy

  >the attack was in the us' favour due to "specialist techniques"

  >was necessary to minimise casualties when withdrawing
• Give 3 reasons the bombing wasn't justified

  >goes against vietnamization as 150,000 more troops were needed

  >100,000 Cambodians were killed and 2 million were homeless

  >hide the campaign as they knew the public would react badly