At 11:47 AM 2/17/00 +0000, you wrote:
>At 02:19 AM 17/02/00 , Reese wrote:
>> >In South Vietnam, our client regime
>>
>>The US of A did _not_ have a "client regime" in S. Vietnam.
>>
>>Vietnam was split into N. and S. and the FRENCH were to look after S.
>>Vietnam at the end of WWII - we had a similar setup in KOREA. Outside of
>>some college radicals in the modern day, the South Koreans didn't and don't
>>want to be annexed by the agressive North that seeks re-unification, just
>>as the S. Vietnamese didn't particularly wish to be subjugated by the
>>communists to their north. For whatever reason, we entered into Vietnam,
>>the French withdrew, and we eventually withdrew also - mostly due to
>>incompetent micromanagement directly from the whitehouse, and discontent
>>fomented by college radicals in the US circa 1960s/early 70s. Such is the
>>nature of Police Actions. Sorry, I guess they are called "Peacekeeping
>>Actions" now - funny how they mean the same thing, but one doesn't carry a
>>negative connotation.
>
>I don't think that this is the only 'interpretation' of the facts. The
>French withdrew, and the Americans did go in. However, the intent of the
>US Gov was to subvert the Geneva agreement of 1954, which allowed the
>Vietnamese some self-determination: to vote on unification -- thus a
>political agreement. By 1956, with US support, the GVN was installed
>in South Vietnam, and was thus considered (admittedly, by some) to be a
>'client state' of the US.
Yep, both the French-Indochina war and the Vietnam war were to a large
degree a result of low presidential U.S. integrity. However, it really
worse then your assertions. During WWII both France and the U.S. had an
agreement with Ho that if his faction supported the Allies then the
Vietnamese would be granted autonomy. The war was barely over when the
French generals and their military-industrial complex went looking for new
action (the French people were totally disinterested, preferring to party
and rebuild their nation). The U.S. stood idly by and said little if
anything publicly to dissuade France as we were now in a cold war and Ho
was an avowed Communist.
Within two years the French military, fighting to a bloody and embarrassing
stalemate with Ho, pleaded with Truman for military assistance. Ignoring
our country's agreements we sent in aid and immediately made a mortal enemy
of Ho. The rest as they say is history....
--Steve
