"The War That Never Ends" Topic

"Vietnam. It's always there. Looming in the past, informing America's future.

A 50-year-old war, once labeled the longest in our history, is still being refought by one group of Americans. The military high command. And almost half a century later, they're still losing it … and blaming others for doing so.

Of course, the U.S. military and Washington policymakers lost the war in Vietnam in the previous century and perhaps it's well that they did. The United States really had no business intervening in that anti-colonial civil war in the first place, supporting a South Vietnamese government of questionable legitimacy and stifling promised nationwide elections on both sides of that country's artificial border…."
Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

Anyone who believes that the US was militarily defeated in Vietnam is greatly ill-informed.

(?)…

Amicalement
Armand

What he means is that the military won all the battles but the politicians lost the will to continue the war.

I wonder what made them lose that will. Was it our ever-blameless news and entertainment media, perhaps? :)

Dan

Absolutely. Look at the media coverage of the Tet Offensive, versus the reality on the ground. The media reported it as a massive US defeat, while in reality, the offensive resulted in the end of the VC/NLF as an effective fighting force.

Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time.

SouthernPhantom

Exactly. No wonder some vets feel they came home to an alternate reality.

Unlike the line that art simply imitates and reflects society, the public attitude about the war and our servicemen was intentionally and artificially (maliciously) changed by "news" and entertainment media "bombardment" at home.

That misinformation campaign I think was the greatest defeat our nation has ever had up to that time. Reverse McCarthyism is now finishing up what they started.

Dan