Reply With QuoteThat's a hell of an interesting viewpoint.
The Vietnam War
I just commented on the revisionist view that the atomic bombing of Japan was wrong.
I would like to make another point: not everybody thought the Vietnam War was wrong in Asia. Indeed, many of us here in Asia are grateful that the United States fought the Vietnam War - at great cost to the US.
I remembered that when I was young, there was a genuine dread of communism in this part of the world, and when South Vietnam fell, and Cambodia turned Rogue, it really did seem as if the communism war machine might turn up at our door steps very soon. It was a horrific possibility that we did not want to contemplate.
If the US had not intervened in 1965, South Vietnam might had fallen ten years earlier. In 1965, my country just became newly independent. Our economy was weak, and we had no armed forces of our own. The ten years that American intervention gave us was precious time to build up our economy and our armed forces, so that we could weather the subsequent storm.
The fact that Vietnam became an important base for the Soviet Union in South East Asia, and the subsequent invasion of Cambodia by Vietnam only confirmed in our minds the dangers posed by Vietnam to the region.
So, many of us in Asia, never subscribed to the idea that the Vietnam War was an unnecessary war. Or that it was a racist war. Or that American lives were sacrified uselessly. For us, it was a necessary war, and American lives had brought us protection at a crucial period of our history. For that, I believe many of us owe the US our gratitude.
That's a hell of an interesting viewpoint.
Very True,
It seems that most who doubt this great nation neither lives here or were born here and take things for granted. Speak to anyone who sacraficed to make it here and you'll see that all are grateful in what this country has to offer and not take it for granted.
That was very interesting. I've never heard a view on vietnam quite like that.
I maybe should'nt help fueling American self esteem but it is a very good story; In 1974 he was picked up by a Norwegian ship in the South East Asian sea. He was a boat refugee from Viet Nam and the first thing he was handed when aboard was a bottle of Coca Cola. He was only 7 years old and never tasted it. For him it was the taste of Freedom. And up until today, it still taste like freedom he says.
It's a good story Ichabe. And I think it illustrates a very good point too. I heard a similar story told to me many years ago by my Czech political science lecturer. He told my class about how he was allowed out of Communist Czechkoslavakia <sic?> for a conference once. He brought back a bottle of Coca-Cola. It was placed on his living room table for all his family to come and admire. Finally, it was opened, and everybody got a sip to discover how it taste like.
But such stories illustrate why we Asians never saw the Cold War in the same way as Americans. We Asians are literally on the front lines of the Cold War. If the Americans lost, then it would be the Asians who would suffer the brutality and deprivation of a communist regime. This was what happened to South Vietnam and Cambodia.
Being on the front line, we also have no illusions about the nature of communism. We never saw it in the fuzzy wuzzy terms that some leftists in the US seem to see it in. We have relatives in Vietnam and in China, who could tell us about what life was like in communist countries. Comparing it with even the third-world lifestyle we enjoyed back in the 1970's, it was truly terrible.
The pervasive fear of saying the wrong things... the lack of basic goods that make life easier like medicine ... all these are real stories from real people that we hear. Being Asians, we were also the first to hear about Khmer Rouge's killing fields, and the cultural revolution. Just recently, I spoke to an old man from China about the latter. He was a Christian, and a teacher. It was a dangerous thing to be a Christian and a teacher during the cultural revolution. He automatically became a class enemy. He was beaten up more than a few times, and paraded once through his home town.
So you see, when some of you Americans say that you are fighting for freedom in Vietnam, you really are. You are fighing for our freedom. This has nothing to do with American self-esteem. It is a cold hard fact.
What leftist American historians would like you to believe is based on a view point that is located in the comforts of the universities in America, far away from the front lines of the Cold War.
Wow. I am a huge Vietnam history buff and I have never in my life heard a anywhere near that. I have a question though. Where are you from and what country are you talking about? Tawain? I only ask because this would help me put more perspective into it.
I truly appreciate and respect your comments on your perspective of the Vietnam war ogukuo72. Next time my Government teacher brings the Vietnam war(which he opposes openly) I will defienatly bring this point of view up with him.
I'm in Singapore. If you have trouble finding it on the map, it's at the tip of the Malaysian peninsular, right smack in the middle of South-East Asia.
What amazes me sometimes is that no one in the US seemed to have bothered to ask Asians here how we really feel about the Vietnam War.
Are you speaking in reference to the media? Because if that's the case, then you need to realize that the US media is generally very leftist and would not want to hear that the Vietnam War was a noble war.What amazes me sometimes is that no one in the US seemed to have bothered to ask Asians here how we really feel about the Vietnam War.
did'nt vietnam invade cambodia to deal with the khemer rouge?
generally doing planet earth a favour
i might be one of the few but ive always believed we won that war. the goal was to stop communism and maybe at that time it did'nt seem like it but we slowed down the communists momentum and if you look back now the vietnam war was one step in ending russias push to bring communism around the globe. i dont want to toot my horn but i told a vietnam war vet that i thought we won that war and he said he'd never thought of it that way and i think it made him feel better because all he ever heard was the liberal media's version of what occurred and now in america with fox news and all the other side is finally getting told. thats why so many liberals put down fox news and they look like the excercist because they vehemently hate another opinion even when they try to teach tolerance they just want you to tolerate thier view and no one elses. thats why they hate george bush so much. he is a strong conservative leader and they can't stand it.
You might have a point there. Militarily, of course, the Americans have always won. But it really doesn't matter whether they really won or not. It was a worthwhile fight, and veterans who fought in that war shouldn't have to feel ashamed of having fought it. It just isn't right.
It's better to have lost well than to have won badly, no?
Yes, as the media is "leftist", that means they are wrong and the government is right.
Did I say that? I said that the majority of the media is biased to the left side, and therefore would not care about the opinions of Asians that were threatened by Vietnam.
Also, just so you know, at the end of the Vietnam War, the US government was more left than right. You really need to stop putting words in other people's mouths. You're not really as clever as you think.
Rat who are you talking to like that man?
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