Saturday, August 25, 2007

Bush and Vietnam

I saw a bit of Bush`s speech comparing Vietnam and Iraq. I suppose they are calculating his audience to be those with no desire to understand history accurately. If so, a veterans group was probably the right place. No offense, but I gre up around those people and they seldom reality to obstruct a good storyline. It is necessary to understand two major points in any discussion about Vietnam. 1: Ho Chi Minh appealed to the U.S. for help in his countires quest for independence. The U.S. turned him down in favor of French colonial rule and in support of colonial rule in general. 2: The country was divided into North and South in anticipation of an election that would decide control of the country. When it became clear that Ho`s side would win, the U.S. put a stop to the election. Considering just these two factors, arguing that the U.S. pullout was what caused chaos is absurd. Is the President`s new position that we shouldn`t have left Vietnam? If so, shouldn`t we go back and look at the card he filled out saying he wouldn`t serve there? I guess they are just playing to a very small segment who belive that we were stopped from winning Vietnam by weak-willed ninnies so they can get on with constructing a similar myth around they own failings in Iraq. Neither war was viable to start with and therefore have no viable solutions for calm endings. Iraq will end in chaos and violence because there is no military solution available. People said that before it started and no one wanted to listen. No that line of reasoning needs to be extinguished so that the U.S. foreign policy apparatus can`t learn from its mistake. Gonzaga will take Couture.

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attempting to silence the voices in my head.