Question: Why was the Antiwar movement during Vietnam unsuccessful?

[berni_mccoy]

This is a serious question. Many here have pointed out that the anti-war movement is practically non-existant right now. I would wager that if there were a draft, you'd have a strong anti-war movement. But that got me thinking. Was the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War successful in bringing the war to an end? Did it have an impact? That war went on for almost two decades and it didn't really end with Vietnam. Vietnam was just a proxy war in the larger Cold War, which you could say only ended when the Soviet Union fell apart (some would argue, the cold war is still going on). And the end of the Soviet Union, and thus, the Cold War had little to do with the anti-war movement.

Granted, I'm not asking or suggesting that the movement didn't accomplish anything. It did, certainly, to raise awareness of the ugly truth of war. I think it very unlikely that we'll see a draft any time soon *because* of the antiwar movement. But I'd like to understand if my perception is wrong that the the anti-war movement actually brought an end to the Vietnam or Cold War. Was the impact of the anti-war movement more subtle than perception? Was the anti-war movement the butterfly in Africa that caused a hurricane on the East Coast?

Thanks and peace.