The White Papers

The White Papers Communist Conspiracy In March 1965 the United States Congress released the State Department document "Aggression From the North: The Record of North Viet-Nam's Campaign To Conquer South Viet-Nam" (the white paper) for publication and distribution to the American public. The white paper conveyed the situation in Viet Nam as perceived by the government and would shape the perception of the public for the early part of the war. Primarily it suggested that the …

…flaw in the decision process was the lack of consideration for the nationalistic attitude that motivated many of the active Viet Cong. The misunderstanding and distrust of anything communist forced the U.S. into an incorrect attitude on the nature of the conflict. The assumptions made in the white paper encourage U.S. involvement in the conflict but a broader view without communist paranoia might have prevented U.S. involvement in another countries civil war.