The war is reaching it's peak and the next several years will be a painful, bloody, political retreat at home and in Nam
Why did we lose the Vietnam war? Simply because
we had no reason to be there. Vietnam had been a scene of
civil war for many, many years and many other nations had tried to dominate her. We took over after the French were beaten away in 1954. We were afraid of the commie boogie man (who as it turned out, did not exist except in the minds of politicians and military men). Stupid act. There really was no historical democratic government in South Vietnam, so who were we going to support? I am not saying the South Vietnamese wanted to live under communism, far from that. Those small number of certain status enjoyed the fruits that capitalism offered. But, from what I saw, there was no cohesive structure of democracy and unity in the south. Their life existed as long as the Americans were in country. The countryside consisted of farming villages which were isolated from the "modern" world and the cities existed to suckle at the teats of the war machine and all the dollars flowing in country.
There are three big reasons why we were doomed to failure. No historical, functional democratic government, mostly puppet regimes and corrupt politicians (both the Viet and US politicians and the corporations profiting from the war). No clear plan or objective to execute or conclude the war. And probably most damaging of all,
no clear cut way to fight the enemy who were willing to take incredible casualties. You should understand, it was a civil war for and by the Vietnamese and the victory would go to the political belief which most wanted the victory, in this case the communists won. The south was unable in spite of years of support and aid to cohesively function and win their freedom.
I wonder at the sacrifices made. The US soldiers who went and bled and died. The Vietnamese who also died and were maimed and their lives destroyed. And I wonder how these players feel years later. The soldiers who fought for a lost cause. The Vietnamese left behind in 1975 to the communists. Those who fled their country for a chance at the good life...leaving the ghosts of the dead behind and those unable to escape the communist captures. Not a noble end. A very sad chapter of the human experience. I would suspect that many a soul still has a restless sleep even after all these years. In my thinking, it was a failing of character of the government of the United States and a sacrifice of ten's of thousands of lives, wasted. A military handicapped by a political body which lacked a clear vision and purpose which led to military execution which lacked a purpose and could not adapt and fight a successful guerilla war.
Protests continue across the country in cities and on college campuses.
chumming up to the enemy, how many more men died because of this foolishness? Nice TA but bottom line, a bimbo.
