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Vietnam, Lebanon, Persian Gulf, and Somalia

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America’s Allies and War

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Abstract

In April 1964 Lyndon Johnson’s administration created the “More Flags” program and began to put significant pressure on the United States’ leading allies to contribute ground troops to the U.S.-led fight in Vietnam.1 To the dismay of many in Washington, the allies—even the British—refused. Dean Rusk recalled with bitterness: “[a]ll we needed was a regiment. The Black Watch would have done.”2 As the prospect of war in the Persian Gulf loomed roughly three decades later, George H. W. Bush’s administration again sought allies to provide a military contribution. The allies responded more favorably to American requests to contribute to the Persian Gulf War—Britain, France, and Italy all contributed, though the size of the contribution varied.

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Notes

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© 2011 Jason W. Davidson

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Davidson, J.W. (2011). Vietnam, Lebanon, Persian Gulf, and Somalia. In: America’s Allies and War. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118485_3

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