Please, somebody here tell me that the following essay is a whole lota bullshit, not a lick of truth in it, then show a little significant proof. Tonight, of all nights, I need to hear it. Not just from the GOP card-carrying-partyline-dancers herein, but anybody coming from a broad knowledge of American history. After the gravity of today’s activities, which I’ll spare you the details, I’d sure appreciate this stumbled-upon bit of seeming steaming verisimilitude being refuted and put to rest, …oh the disillusion like thunderclaps:
~~
Let's look at the history of United States involvement in Vietnam from 1945. First of all, in order to understand the Vietnam war, you need to understand that Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia were conquered by the French in the 1870s. From the 1870s to the 1940s, the French brutally ruled and exploited the wealth, resources, and labor of Vietnam and Indochina. The Vietnamese hated its French colonial rulers. In 1940, France fell the Nazi Germany, and France itself became a colony. After France fell, Japan conquered French Indochina and tried to replace French colonial rule with Japanese colonial rule. The Vietnamese soon took up arms against the Japanese. In fact, between 1941 and 1945, the United States worked closely with the Vietnamese resistance forces led by Ho Chi Minh. After World War II, Ho Chi Minh, who had been our close ally, asked the United States to force France to give up its imperial control of Vietnam and Indochina.
Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese resistance leaders drew up a Vietnamese Declaration of Independence:
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness....
"Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice....
"For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country....The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty."
But instead of supporting his old military ally, Ho Chi Minh, President Truman decided to side with the French. He accused the Vietnamese independence leaders of being communists. From 1945 to 1954, the United States bankrolled the French efforts to retake Vietnam and Indochina as French colonies, spending over 2 billion dollars. After World War II, France was do destroyed and bankrupt that it could not support a prolonged war with the Vietnamese.
…continued in a lengthy fashion: http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/vietnam.htm#When
scroll down a fourth of a page to:
"When one delves into the Pentagon Papers it becomes immediately clear…”
…& read on if you’ve the inclination…
[TIA, if applicable]
