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How any thinking person could defend the debacle in Vietnam is just bizarre. I guess it's the same rabid folks who think the adventure in Iraq is going swimmingly.
In brief; In 1960, after JFKs election it was decided that the prospect of the communist North Vietnamese overtaking South Vietnam was so dangerous and threatening that we committed 50,000 lives and a trillion dollars to make sure the "unthinkable" did not come to pass. Guess what. The "unthinkable" happened anyway.
So where are we now after the cataclysmic victory of the communist tyrants in southeast Asia? They are very important trade partners. Americans visit Vietnam. Vietnamese visit America. It's quite clear we could have skipped that very expensive and painful chapter in American history and ended up in the very same place. It becomes more and more apparent that foreign policy is best conducted through trade and the cultural exchanges that accompany it.
I'm no fan of Muhammad Ali, but whether he was motivated by cowardice or convenience, he was certainly right about Vietnam.
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My work here is nearly finished.
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