Vietnamization

American  

[vee-et-nuh-muh-zey-shuhn, vyet-, vee-it-] / viˌɛt nə məˈzeɪ ʃən, ˌvyɛt-, ˌvi ɪt- /

noun

1. a U.S. policy during the Vietnam War of giving the South Vietnamese government responsibility for carrying on the war, so as to allow for the withdrawal of American troops.

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Vietnamization British  

/ ˌvjɛtnəmaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. (in the Vietnam War) a US government policy of transferring the tasks of fighting and directing the war to the government and forces of South Vietnam

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Etymology

Origin of Vietnamization

First recorded in 1965–70; Vietnam + -ization

Example Sentences

That was also a failure, but I use “Vietnamization” in a different sense, to describe the use of overwhelming and often unnecessary brute force, leading to unintended and frequently disastrous consequences.

From Salon

But massive rearmament and “Vietnamization” of the IDF were not adequate to meet the challenges of the Yom Kippur War, in which Egyptian and Syrian forces at first overran the IDF, rapidly depleting Israel’s stock of arms.

From Salon

President Nixon had won the White House in 1968 with the promise of a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam, and in his first year he adopted a policy that he called Vietnamization, which would train and equip South Vietnamese forces so that the United States could rapidly draw down its commitment there.

From New York Times

His strategy from this point on, he said, would be to gradually turn over the fighting to South Vietnam—a policy he called Vietnamization.

From Literature

It was the weak point of Nixon’s Vietnamization strategy.

From Literature