So where are those elections Ho Chi Minh promised upon unification??
"Those elections" were promised by all of the signatories of the Geneva Accords. They were annulled by the US, not by Ho. I'm not attributing any great virtue to Ho by saying this--he knew and we knew that he would win those elections.
What's you're true point here Sam?? That Ho was always pledged to democratic values and wanted to be the George Washington of Vietnam??
Actually, if he wanted to be like anyone among the "Founders", it was Thomas Jefferson. But it wouldn't work in Vietnam, an entirely different culture and tradition. What is your point? The US installed and dismantled governments in Vietnam pretty much at will from 1956 until the 1970s. Please don't give me crap about how sacred "elections" were to those administrations or with respect to American foreign policy.
You're trying to tell me that we're obligated to cutting the political throats of every person in Vietnam (or anywhere else) by supporting elections where totalitarian ideologies are permitted to destroy everything we're working to achieve.
No, I'm trying to tell you that we stepped into the shoes of French imperialists in Vietnam. That we got involved in a civil war between the great majority of Vietnamese nationalists who detested the Vietnamese who backed and aided the French. That we backed the that distinctly minority faction. That we didn't have a clue about the culture and history there, we could only see the conflict through the lens of a choice between "godless communism" (those were Dulles' words at one point) and allegedly western sympathizers (but who were, for the most part, corrupt as hell). And, quite predictably, we lost the war, even if we "won" every battle. That loss wasn't because of faint-hearted Americans, it was preordained unless we were willing to essentially "salt the earth" as the Romans used to do, adopt scorched earth tactics for even more of the country than we did (or as we did do in WWII--a war where more of those tactics were acceptable and, for the most part, demanded--unlike in Vietnam).
So great.. Vietnam has been united since 1975. Where are the elections?
Slowly, Vietnam has been recovering. Is it perfect? I'm sure not. Is it better? I'm sure it is. A fair part of the world has had relations with them for years now, we are beginning to do so. Our meddling is unlikely to speed things up; it is more likely to slow things down, especially given the heavy handed diplomatically tin-eared group in the White House right now. We have a history of backing far worse governments than Vietnams, governments that showed very little desire to become more accountable to the people. It is you who have said several times on this thread that what is needed more than a democratic govt in Iraq is an accountable govt. I agree with that. So why can't you allow the same thing in Vietnam? |
