The bias in this thread no matter how you put it huh? Scared of USSR & China? How were they scared when they just recently beat them in a war a year before Vietnam started? America's goal was to help the south and the whole time while being there they did the north hadn't captured the south until America pulled it's troops out because of the treaty of 1973, America though the treaty would have help settled things and had already left they captured Saigon in april of 1975 America wasn't coming back. Talking about being mentally scarred so were plenty of Vietnamese later down the line they stop getting resources from allies and had to use the rebels they got from the south as slaves to found the poor economy they had it's always half spoken here.
It doesn't matter if they beat them in the Korean war; for years the US held back in the Vietnamese war due to threat of Chinese/USSR intervention, not unlike the Cuban Missile Crisis. In addition, Nixon had to try and negotiate with the USSR and China to try and stop them supplying the North, which failed, but this proves that both countries were willing to intervene. If they weren't afraid they would have pushed the boundaries and thus let them intervene, but they did not.
Also, defending the South was not their goal at all; the North hardly tried to invade the South, there was insurgents but the Viet Minh defended most of the time, I can't think of any large invasion attempt except for the Tet Offensive.
I can assure you I have no bias; I am British and like America, but that does not change my opinion on such a pointless war.
