Obama speculates on Eisenhower’s Domino Theory

The article at http://hnn.us/articles/116045.html discusses a foreign policy know as The Domino Theory. The Domino Theory was used by the United States several times throughout the Cold War as a justification for becoming involved in foreign affairs. The idea was that if one country fell under the influence of communism, other nearby countries would also begin to fall one at a time, resembling a line of dominoes. The theory was most famously stated by Dwight Eisenhower at a press conference in 1954. Eisenhower said, "You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences."
Later on in the Cold War, Lyndon B. Johnson adopted Eisenhower’s Domino Theory as he escalated US involvement in Vietnam. The justification for this was that if Vietnam fell to the Communists, eventually the rest of Asia would follow. Although this plan was favored in our government, many Americans did not feel the same way. A large reason for this was poor communication between the government and the general American public. Many Americans did not understand why we were sending more troops to fight in this war, and many historians blame Lyndon B. Johnson and his advisers for not generating enough American support. When America started reducing the number of troops, many Americans labeled the Vietnam War a lost cause.
At this time, The Domino Theory did prove to be true in some areas in Southeast Asia. After the US made an official withdrawal of troops in 1973, South Vietnam was no longer powerful enough to resist northern communism. In 1975, South Vietnam’s capital city of Saigon was taken over by the North Vietnamese army. Shortly later, the nearby countries of Laos and Cambodia also fell victims to communism. Other countries in Asia however, such as Thailand and Malaysia, were able to resist communist rule.
Many similarities can be seen between Lyndon B. Johnson’s troubles in Vietnam in the 1960’s, and the decisions that Barack Obama must make in Afghanistan today.
Today, President Obama is facing the issue of terrorism in Afghanistan and the debate over increasing our involvement by sending more troops. Instead of preventing the spread of communism, Obama may use the Domino Theory in order to prevent the spread of terrorism. If we do not send more troops to Afghanistan, what other countries will Al Qaeda spread its acts of terrorism to in the Middle East? The question is, what can Obama learn/gain from Johnson’s handling of a similar situation? Recently, a group of historians visited the White House in order to educate Obama on The Domino theory and LBJ’s handling of the Vietnam War. A primary piece of advice for Obama was to make the rationalization for sending more troops strong, clear, and well communicated to the American public. If Obama can keep the support of Americans, something Johnson failed to do in Vietnam, his chances of succeeding are much greater. In order to do so, he must provide the public with a clear rationale of our intervention. If this can be accomplished, our chances of accomplishing our goals in Afghanistan will improve.