why didn't we bomb hanoi, Why wasn't Hanoi bombed during the Vietnam War?

Why didn't American planes bomb Hanoi during the Vietnam War?

There are many motives of not bombarding Hanoi, but the intention and what were the possible results of this act must have counted against this. Upon the first of the Tet Offensive, from January to February 1972, a massive assault chiefly targeted Hanoi, well aware that the U.S. military operations were dead on. As such, it damaged the city severely considering that troops and war material that transited through it so greatly a proportion of military joins for black operations was emplaced in their gardens or carelessly done even at serious damage done to the infrastructure and urban settlements.

These risks were combined with long-range considerations-the absence of cloud cover. One prime basis for not having bombed Hanoi stemmed from how this act would be perceived in the international community, foremost that of the U.S. Nonetheless, given that the revolution had begun, along with other allies chose to side with the Vietnamese, and public support for the US involvement has grown because of visible congressional publicity. Along with this were considerations of the chance of aligned bombing on Hanoi increasing additional tensions between these two countries upon which further intervention was made in the Asian direction.

1. Political and Strategic Considerations: Bombing Hanoi was avoided because of its strategic and symbolic importance. Doing so could have escalated the conflict, drawing in direct ​involvement from China and the Soviet Union that supported North Vietnam. It could have led to a much larger and more dangerous international conflict.

2. Diplomatic Issues: There were some important political consequences. Bombing Hanoi would have been an affront to the sovereign nation's capital, thus angrily raising further ire for the United States in the international community, in addition to boosting even further the anti-war sentiments both domestically and abroad.

3. Humanitarian and Moral Reasons: Hanoi was urbanized and populated by civilians, and bombing it would have resulted in large civilian casualties, raising moral and ethical problems. It has already drawn severe criticism against the U.S. military and government for high civilian death rates in other parts of Vietnam.

4. Military purposes: The most common military sites being bombed in Vietnam would be industrial, military, and logistical sites, those being supply lines, bases, and factories. While Hanoi fell under that criteria, U.S. pilots would then fly to usually more tactical and operational targets thought less likely to cause widespread civilian harm and more likely to damage North Vietnam's war effort directly.

The decision not to bomb Hanoi, North Vietnam's capital, was complex, relegated under the shadow of a host of considerations strategic, political, and humanitarian.

1. To pursue North Vietnam to cease its support for the Viet Cong insurgency in South Vietnam; bombing of Hanoi could damage infrastructure and military targets, but it could also well escalate the conflict into a full-scale war that may embroil China and even the Soviet Union, all of which were allies of North Vietnam. This risked turning regional conflict into the possibility of nuclear confrontation on a world scale.

2. Civilian casualties and the international image of the war: Bombing Hanoi heavily that might have killed an admirable number of civilians would have broken the neck of consumer industries. This could have done further damage to an already fragile and negative international impression about U.S. involvement in the war and could have scuttled diplomatic efforts to find a resolution to the conflict.

3. Military effectiveness: While Hanoi is a political center, it is rather well-defended place. It has excellent and sophisticated underground facilities and an extensive air defense system. In any case, it proved extremely difficult for U.S. Air Force pilots to inflict decisive damage on key targets without unacceptable loss of life.

4. Ho Chi Minh Trail: One very strong reason why the bombing of Hanoi as a premise to conduct full bombing campaigns was not pursued was due to the existence of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This was a vast network of roads and trails supplying the Viet Cong with rivers in the south. North Vietnam could hardly be isolated from the war effort or perished under heavy bombing of Hanoi as long as the trail remained open.

5. Domestic constraints: President Lyndon B. Johnson was facing increasing dissent from all quarters against the anti-Vietnam War effort. It would, now, be impossible for him to launch a large bombing campaign that would aggravate than pacify public alienation.

6. Diplomacy and negotiations: Diplomacy with peaceful resolutions equally considered throughout the years of warfare involved themselves in the variable of bombing Hanoi. Bombing Hanoi had the potential, with its ensuing fallout, to unjustifiably assert itself as politically motivated aggression- killing the peace talks off, thus making all resolution efforts sorely difficult.