BTW Everyone in the south had not fled from the north.
There was a lot of work done by our government in the 50s trying to figure out what to do in Indochina and fight the communists. The problem was that we saw communism as the main issue and many Vietnamese saw getting rid of outside influence to be the main issue. This is not the first or last time we were wrong or that our efforts were misguided and ignorant of the determination of other people.
Based upon your position we got the very outcome we were fighting to prevent. I posit that this was due as much on the determination of the Vietnamese as it was on our strategy for carrying out the war.
I believe the key to looking at Viet Nam now is to know that you can simutaneously hold in esteem those who did their duty on the front line and realize that the leadership was wrong all along. Errors they subsequently lied about over and over to cover up one of the major disasters in foreign policy in our history. Psychologically it is difficult to know that many of us suffered losses in the war and then believe that it was a mistake. After 45 years of dealing with this issue I know that I have been on the right track since 1958.
I'm tired and know you may want to go on, so have at it and good luck.
I know. Why? By pointing out that a fearful population might have "voted" for Minh (just as a fearful population recently "voted" for Hussein), what do you think you are proving?
BTW Everyone in the south had not fled from the north.
I know. See, for example, the phrase "...by leaving the north or at least not going there" from my previous post. It's Post #76, and it's right about your #77, in case you want to actually read it sometime.
The problem was that we saw communism as the main issue and many Vietnamese saw getting rid of outside influence to be the main issue.
Yes, that was a problem to be overcome.
This is not the first or last time we were wrong
How were we "wrong"? To us it was perfectly correct to say that communism was the main issue.
or that our efforts were misguided and ignorant of the determination of other people.
The only one who is "ignorant of the determination of other people" here is you because you keep ignoring the fact that the folks in "South Vietnam" did not want to live under Minh.
Based upon your position we got the very outcome we were fighting to prevent.
I know. That's exactly my point, because my position is that we should have fought that war more completely and seriously, without tying one hand behind our back.
I posit that this was due as much on the determination of the Vietnamese as it was on our strategy for carrying out the war.
Posit away, posit all you like. The truth is that we could have easily defeated North Vietnam militarily and in fact effectively did so, but our political leadership at home prevented our military from doing its job and then pulled them out, along with (later, disastrously) all aid to the South. Are you denying this?
I believe the key to looking at Viet Nam now is to know that you can simutaneously hold in esteem those who did their duty on the front line and realize that the leadership was wrong all along.
Indeed, that is my position in a nutshell. Those who did their duty on the ground did so with honor. The cowardly (and in some cases treasonous) leadership hung them out to dry and made sacrificial lambs out of them. The leadership was wrong because they did not allow our military to do what was necessary to win that war (which they effectively did, anyway).
Psychologically it is difficult to know that many of us suffered losses in the war and then believe that it was a mistake. After 45 years of dealing with this issue I know that I have been on the right track since 1958.
I'm glad this knowledge of your correctness provides you with psychological comfort. Best,