Submitted by DemocracyRules Canada, Jan 30, 2007 15:02

Vietnam was not a victory, but it was about the best that could be done at the time. During that war, the MSM controlled almost all information -- no internet, no blogs, no email. Vietnam was part of the Cold War policy of the containment of communism. The Vietnam war succeeded in slowing the communist takeover of the south, stopped the communist takeover of most neighboring countries, worked to impoverish the Soviets, destabilized Chinas' regional hegemony, and exacerbated the acrimony and competition between the Soviets and China. It also gave Americans valuable combat experience, tested new weapons, and inspired many new ones. Vietnam was definitely a setback in the Cold War, but the biggest problem is slavishly interpreting the complex outcome as defeat, and projecting that interpretation onto all other wars. The MSM seriously promulgates the idea that tiny North Vietnam single-handedly defeated 175 million Americans in combat, and "won" by becoming a full Stalinist state. Without China and the Soviets, winning in North Vietnam would have been easy - invade, occupy, and democratize. In reality, invasion might have caused war with the Soviets (probably no) or China (probably yes). Instead, the US stuck by the strategy of communist containment, ceded South Vietnam, prosecuted the Cold War elsewhere, and eventually won by blocking and completely impoverishing the Soviets. Vietnam was painful for the participants and for onlookers to watch, but most hope for the day that Vietnam will become a democracy. The US and its allies have hastened that arrival, by defeating the Soviets, encouraging China to democratize, and showing goodwill to the current Vietnam government. There is no shame in any of that.

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