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Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)

23. Sure I understand the difference

Mon May 26, 2014, 10:39 PM

May 2014

Sure, the US messed up in Indochina. I'm not denying that.

You quote Eisenhower as admitting that an 80% majority of Vietnamese favored Ho Chi Minh (which I have serious doubts about), yet the Eisenhower administration itself "used (SEATO) as its justification for refusing to go forward with the 1956 elections intended to reunify Vietnam". (http://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/seato) Do you really think that "Uncle Ho" was interested in free and fair elections? Do you really think that South Vietnam was better off once the North Vietnamese took over?

I don't want to sound like a John Bircher, but I have known people from both China and South Vietnam who were around both before and after the Communists took over in their respective countries, and they all said the Communist systems sucked. How many millions of people died in the Greal Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution? How many untold thousands of South Vietnamese were forcibly sent away to camps after the fall of Saigon? Uncle Ho would have had purges in the South, regardless of whether or not there had been US involvement.

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This... May 26, 2014 [View all] sheshe2 May 2014 OP

That's awesome treestar May 2014 #1

X2 if they include the toe tag. MADem May 2014 #28

Incredible. I want to run my hand through them and connect with them all, say sorry, you are missed uppityperson May 2014 #2

Heartbreaking. sheshe2 May 2014 #8

When the first 500 were killed in the Iraq/Afghanistan debacle, I started a jar with pennies, 1 for uppityperson May 2014 #10

It's a really tactile, sensual image. calimary May 2014 #26

Words fail. Scuba May 2014 #3

k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t Laelth May 2014 #4

A lot of death shown there. A provocative installation. ancianita May 2014 #5

I want to see a museum with the wait list times of all the vets who need treatment valerief May 2014 #6

+1000000000 nt TBF May 2014 #7

Thank you sheshe. That's my generation..my peers. What a waste of shraby May 2014 #9

I remember sitting watching TV... sheshe2 May 2014 #14

We're still losing them to Agent Orange. Many many have died way too young shraby May 2014 #34

Why? $$$$$$$ - war profiteering by MIC Divernan May 2014 #18

neat bigtree May 2014 #11

Beautiful memorial is it not bigtree?! sheshe2 May 2014 #16

amazing memorial bigtree May 2014 #19

Never forget! War is not the answer. JDPriestly May 2014 #12

Contractors made a lot of money, and so did heroin dealers. alfredo May 2014 #13

very moving napkinz May 2014 #15

Now imagine a space 40 to 60 times larger... JackRiddler May 2014 #17

Yes Jack we can add those too. sheshe2 May 2014 #20

Of course, Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians were also killing each other Art_from_Ark May 2014 #21

Do you understand the difference? JackRiddler May 2014 #22

Sure I understand the difference Art_from_Ark May 2014 #23

Eisenhower even wrote it down: JackRiddler May 2014 #24

And yet, the Eisenhower administration was not interested in the 1956 elections Art_from_Ark May 2014 #25

You answer your own question. JackRiddler May 2014 #27

Assuming that the US had supported Ho Chi Minh from the beginning, Art_from_Ark May 2014 #29

If, if, if... you must be kidding? JackRiddler May 2014 #31

I think you should refresh your memory about Ho Chi Minh Art_from_Ark May 2014 #30

Invade that country!!! JackRiddler May 2014 #32

The Vietnamese declaration of Independence JackRiddler May 2014 #33