Please explain to me the Republican position on Vietnam.

[zbdent]

Okay, here's some points:

Republicans have been, and still are, against the spread of Communism.

BUT . . .

The war in Vietnam was trying to halt the spread of Communism.

BUT . . .

The war in Vietnam was started (according to them) by a Democratic president.

BUT . . .

The war was continued by a Republican president, and the US did not pull out of Vietnam until that Republican resigned in disgrace.

BUT . . .

The "lunatics" were protesting against the war.

BUT . . .

The "lunatics" were protesting against the war before 1969 too.

So, what exactly is the Republicans' stand on Vietnam?

[dbonds]

1. Now or before they started trying to rewrite history.

My basic understanding was at the time (I was born 1959 so was young), it was a culture war then. It was the same movement that brought us equal rights, birth control, loosing of dress codes, loosing of sexual stigma's, anti-establisment, and anti war. The people that best explimfied this was the Hippy movement. Anti-war part was huge.

At the time the pro-war people were always talking about the domino theory and how we couldn't let any country fall to communist. It was basically understood though the war was just a money making machine for companies that provided equipment and weapons. The republicans were then and still now all about helping the super rich get richer.

Then after we lost, you had the pro-war people start saying that we would have won if the anti-war movement didn't tie the hands of our politicians so they would 'let' them win. That is when spin started.

It didn't help anything that after that, during the mid 70's, some with adictive personalities took many of the new found liberties to excess. We had corporations trying to get control of our culture by many new devices, some worked liked Disco. All creating an atmosphere of a coming crackdown.

Then we got some spin movies, the Rambo crap and Chuck Norris stuff. 'Will they let us win this time" stuff.

To bring things up to date, we are still fighting that same culture war. We got lazy after the war ended, we thought we won. They just stepped back and took control of the media (as they saw that the reason they lost that battle). They organized, they got funded, we partied. Now we have to play catch up.

[Steel City Slim]

2. It Really Wasn't That Cut And Dried

I think it was David Halberstam who first referred to Vietnam as a quagmire ("The Making of A Quagmire", McGraw-Hill, 1965), and that is exactly what it was, both militarily and politically. The lines that were drawn weren't democrat and republican, but hawk and dove. While generally the conservatives were hawks and liberals doves, many republicans opposed the war and many democrats favored it.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

3. Absolutely true...

This was also when the Democratic party was becoming moral - i.e. turning its back on the racist Dixiecrats in the south.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Left_Winger]

4. A good explanation of a very intricate episode in our history is

"A Bright Shining Lie" by Neil Shehan.

One fact I would correct is that you state that the US did not pull the troops out of Vietnam until Nixon resigned in disgrace. "Peace with honor" was declared by the Nixon administration in January 1973 after the conclusion of the Paris Peace Accords and all US troops were home by that time. Nixon did not resign until August 1974.

[Steel City Slim]

5. A Bright Shining Lie

"A Bright Shining Lie" is the best book I've read about US involvement in Vietnam.