Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (161389)	5/4/2005 3:36:56 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I know of no greater authority than MacNamara and the Vietnamese themselves on the body count in Vietnam -- MacNamara's obsession with body count is legendary and the Vietnamese have some idea of the scale of the suffering they endured. I have not seen anything to persuade me that the number 5 million is not accurate -- of which 2 million were civilians killed in the American war.

To: TimF who wrote (161389)	5/7/2005 6:28:24 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

It is indeed but it is not free, and was even less so in the aftermath of the war The Vietnamese assisted the USA in defeating the Japs during WW2. They asked for freedom afterwards and were denied. On September 2, 1945, representatives from the Emperor of Japan signed the surrender papers ending World War II. On that same day Ho Chi Minh signed a declaration of independence and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. The proclamations said: "All men are created equal. Their Creator endows them with certain inalienable rights, among those are, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." If this sounds a lot like our own Declaration of Independence that's because it is. Ho was a student of history and of the United States. In 1919, he had tried to get President Wilson to endorse Vietnamese independence. Wilson refused to meet with him. Ho was an ally of the United States during WWII. We had given him money and weapons so he could fight the Japanese and Ho Chi Minh was certain that the United States would reward this. After all, the United States had started as a colony and Ho had fought with the Americans, so the Vietnamese leader was certain that the U.S. would endorse the Vietnamese call for independence. We didn't. Instead we supported a return of the French. archives.gophercentral.com!op!news!id!1131