Excerpt from George Ball's Dissenting Opinion, 1965
(1) A Losing War: The South Vietnamese are losing the war to the Viet Cong. No one can assure you that we can beat the Viet Cong or even force them to the conference table on our terms, no matter how many hundred thousand white, foreign (U.S.) troops we deploy.
No one has demonstrated that a white ground force of whatever size can win a guerrilla war—which is at the same time a civil war between Asians—in jungle terrain in the midst of a population that refuses cooperation to the white forces (and the South Vietnamese) and thus provides a great intelligence advantage to the other side. . . .
Once we suffer large casualties, we will have started a well-nigh irreversible process. Our involvement will be so great that we cannot—without national humiliation—stop short of achieving our complete objectives. Of the two possibilities I think humiliation would be more likely than the achievement of our objectives—even after we have paid terrible costs. . . .
Use the excerpts from George Ball's dissenting opinion to answer the question.
Which of the following was Ball's opinion of the U.S. containment strategy in Vietnam?
A.
It is likely doomed to fail.
B.
It is in use by the Viet Cong.
C.
It is an appropriate military tactic.
D.
It is espoused by the Vietnamese.
A. It is likely doomed to fail.
A. It is likely doomed to fail.
To determine George Ball's opinion of the U.S. containment strategy in Vietnam, we can look at the excerpts provided.
In the first excerpt, Ball states, "No one can assure you that we can beat the Viet Cong or even force them to the conference table on our terms." This suggests that Ball believed the U.S. containment strategy was unlikely to succeed.
In the second excerpt, Ball explains that a white ground force, referring to American troops, may not be able to win a guerrilla war in the jungle terrain of Vietnam. He also mentions that the population refuses cooperation to the white forces and provides an intelligence advantage to the other side. This further supports the idea that Ball believed the U.S. containment strategy was likely to fail.
Based on these excerpts, we can conclude that Ball's opinion of the U.S. containment strategy in Vietnam was that it is likely doomed to fail. Therefore, the correct answer is A. It is likely doomed to fail.