That statement is either ignorant or deliberately misleading. The partition was supposed to be followed by elections. The elections were not allowed when the US and it's puppet S. Vietnamese government realized that the vote would go against them. Minh kept his end of the bargain, we didn't.
Okay Smart@ss, since you wish to maintain the delusional belief that "Uncle Ho" actually believed in democratic values, and since you seem to want to "switch-hit" when it comes to the propriety of "free and fair elections" in the Mid-East, or even the efficacy of permitting democracy to be practiced by those Arabs you obviously feel are too sub-human to be entrusted with such a right.....
Why don't you tell us all about the "free and fair" elections that the North Vietnamese carried out once they won their "civil war".
And while you're at it, name for us a few of the opposition political parties that must be thriving now that Ho's followers have fulfilled Ho's vision of enacting his version of the US constitution...
It's simply amazing how much propaganda folks like you will swallow when it evokes "self-loathing" perceptions of the US.
Of course, you shouldn't let the truth get in the way of all of those pretty words about how we'll be happy as part of the Global Proletariat, or as slaves to Allah's will.
It wasn't about logistical support and armaments. We gave the South plenty and their soldiers fought weakly.
Oh.. and I guess all of those NVA soldiers were thrilled to find out they were not fighting just for "national unity" but all for the purpose of installing a foreign derived political system.
Or could it be that the ARVN had the disadvantage because of having exterior lines as the NVA found their sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos?? Wouldn't it have been so nice if the HCM trail could have been cut and the extended between Thailand and S. China Sea and defend a few hundred miles of border than over a thousand?
There was no "direct invasion" after 1968. We had been fighting NVA and VC before 68 and we continued to fight NVA and VC afterwards.
Why not just say they were all NVA?
Like a boat through water, the wake soon fills in and there is no record of your passing. The NVA dug into that jungle, moved when it got hot and usually killed their share of Americans when their paths crossed. It was like that before 68, it was like that from 68-72 and, if we'd stayed, it would still be like that.
Who are you kidding? The NVA built a friggin' petroleum pipeline and a highway by the 1970's. They actually managed to "trickle" T-55 tanks down to the south along this "cattle path" you're talking about.
We had Spectre gunships running "truck-busting" missions along this trail for years...
PAVN General Vo Bam stated in 1983 that he had begun construction of the trail in May 1959 on the order of Ho Chi Minh. General Tran Tien Dung added:
The length of the route, added to old and new strategic routes is more than 12,000 miles. The 26.4-foot wide route of more than 625 miles is our pride. We laid 3,125 miles of pipeline through deep rivers and streams and over mountains more than 3,000 feet high. We were capable of providing enough fuel for the various battlefronts. We put more than 10,000 transportation vehicles on the Trail.
psywarrior.com
Some "trickle" you see to be referring to.. Why not just admit that we permitted the NVA to occupy S. Laos right under out noses, and commit 300,000 Vietnamese to operate the HCM trail??
Didn't we cut the Korean peninsula into two sections, one communist, one free? Was it that much of a stretch to face the reality that the NVA are violating Laotian neutrality, so it's imperative that we counter this, by counter-invasion, if necessary? After all, was Laos part of this "civil war" you claim was occuring between the Vietnams? Shouldn't the UN have stepped in and demanded that the Geneva accords be abided by with regard to its neutrality in the face of those blatant agression.. the same kind we fought against in Korea?
I shiver at the thought of all the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives because our politicians and military leaders didn't have the good common sense to formulate US policy to fit the reality, not their own naive sense of international decorum.
I'll be standing by to hear all about those Vietnamese elections that the good people have been enjoying ever since the NVA won their civil war..
Hawk |
