"The hidden origins of the wars in Korea and Vietnam " Topic

"The Korean war is often called the forgotten war. Of course there are many more wars far more forgotten, for example the massive U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic that smashed the new democracy there from 1965-1966. However, what has been forgotten is the massive bloodbath that resulted from the Korean War, during which 3.5 million Koreans died. The Vietnam war is far more well known because it awakened a generation to the vicious nature of American imperialism. Growing up (I was born a couple years after it ended) it was the last major war the U.S. had waged; since then, America's overt wars were kept brief specifically to avoid another Vietnam. The brief wars of the '80s and '90s: Grenada, Libya, Panama, and Iraq. The long wars were the covert wars: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Angola.

Vietnam was chiefly known to my generation through Hollywood movies like Apocalypse Now and Platoon. Thus like most back then I never really even thought to ask, why did the war begin in the first place? What was it all about? Never once in these films did they ever have a Viet Cong explain what they were fighting for. Actually, in fairness to Platoon director Oliver Stone, I should mention that he did eventually make the brilliant Heaven and Earth, which attempted to tell the story of the war from the perspective of a Vietnamese woman. Of course, not even this film is told from the perspective of the NLF, the National Liberation Front. Instead the protagonist survives by collaborating with the Americans, eventually marrying an American soldier who turns out to be a war criminal, a special forces soldier who committed all manner of atrocities as part of America's psychological operations against the Vietnamese. Sorry for the early tangent but I can't help but mention this forgotten classic. My point is that while the Vietnam war used to receive a great deal of attention, the actual reasons for the war have been less discussed…"
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Amicalement
Armand

All you need to know about this article can be summed up in this line concerning MLK that appears at the end:

"Recently the war mongers Bush and Obama attempted to co-opt his legacy, marching in Selma. Trust me, if he was alive today they'd have to order his death."

How about:

the massive U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic that smashed the new democracy there from 1965-1966

I'm sorry, but a government installed by a coup d'etat whose first act is to suspend the country's constitution can only be termed a democracy by somebody with no concept of the meaning of the word.

"Thus like most back then I never really even thought to ask, why did the war begin in the first place? What was it all about?"

Once you did start thinking about it, did you go to the library and find out the answer?

"Recently the war mongers Bush and Obama attempted to co-opt his legacy, marching in Selma. Trust me, if he was alive today they'd have to order his death."

Yes … that basically sums it up … I think we know where this author stands. Comments like that demonstrates that he has no credibility and lives on another planet.

marrying an American soldier who turns out to be a war criminal, a special forces soldier

He was a Marine … not SF. And I don't remember any war crimes. But again, this author like many of his ilk. Can't tell a Green Beret from a Marine. And everything either does is a war crime.

However, what has been forgotten is the massive bloodbath that resulted from the Korean War

The Korean War was fought by the US lead UN forces vs. the Communist North that invaded the South. The North was supported by the PRC and USSR. In an ongoing threat of the spread of Communism. And Vietnam was basically a similar the same scenario.

Legion 4:

Your citations are the author's description of an Oliver Stone movie. They are not his analysis of the roots of the Korean and Vietnam war.

Years ago as a teenager, I read the IF Stone book, "Hidden History of the Korean War: 1950-1951". I should read it again because my memory is vague, but I remember being very impressed with the author's guts, scholarship, analysis and his insight. Keep in mind that this book was being written at the height of Cold War fervour in the USA and that IF Stone was subjected to intense pressure to shut up and not publish the book. However he got the book published and his enemies stayed on the sidelines because the book was so well researched and argued that to confront him would have weakened the case for the Truman Doctrine and the Korean Conflict. You should really give the book a read. It is well worth it IIRC.

Cheers.
Rod Robertson.

No … I was not commenting on the either war in my first part of the post. Just that the author in his narrative of the movie, couldn't tell a Green Beret from USMC NCO. And BTW I saw the movie on HBO a few time years ago.

Now if the author makes a simple mistake like that … How do I know if the rest of his heavily Left leaning comments are inaccurate as well ?

The answer is simple to me … I don't know …

As far as the rest … his comments … Too Left for me … especially when calls Both Bush and Obama warmongers … Hmmm … ?
Those comments tells me his narrative is very skewed … So it would not be worth my time to read any further, IMO …