By the late 1960s, the conflict in Vietnam had grown to a limited war involving approximately half a million military personnel and billions of dollars a year. The American presence in Indochina had increased from the Truman administration to Kennedy's decision to initiate greater American involvement in 1961. .
The peak of 543,000 American forces was achieved in 1969 and was the main part of US aid to the nation of South Vietnam. The US policy since the beginning of the Cold War had been containment of Communist aggression and advances. US intentions of ensuring democracy throughout the world had not changed, however the US did not support the right of self-determination in Vietnam in scheduled elections in 1956. Rather an incorrect study of the Vietnam situation: wrongly identifying it with the previous Korean dilemma and the overall attitudes of indiscriminate fear of any communist movement, regardless of circumstances, prevailed over American foreign policy and helped begin an ill-advised escalation of American involvement into the Vietnamese civil war. The brief excerpts from The Arogance of Power address these sentiments. .
Both factors created an environment where all communist movements were viewed with fear and hostility. More straightforward American involvement was initiated in these prejudiced times, with indirect military assistance to the French in Indochina in 1950, disregarding important considerations of nationalism and anti-colonialism. America's involvement in Vietnam violated the terms of the Geneva Agreement of 1954 and American intervention was also justified by the American recognition of the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam as a valid political boundary, contrary to the Geneva Agreements specific statement that the line was strictly provisional. .
To find a solution, that we must recognize that nationalism is the strongest political force in the world and we must therefore adjust our priorities accordingly, to accommodate the possibility of a communist influenced nationalist movement.