] On a totally unrelated note.....
]
] > given as President Eisenhower had supported that regime with
] > the Formation of a MAAG for south vietnam,
]
] I am in contact with an individual who says he was with 2d MAAG, Da Nang,
] Vietnam, 1960.....and that he doesn't qualify as a Vietnam Veteran.....
Well it really does all depend upon whether or not one
takes the Gulf Of Tonkien Resolution as a 'declaration of war'
or merely as a Political Expediencey to up the ante.
In the Former case, then quite clearly the Gentleman is
a Veteran of American Involvement in Vietnam, but not a War Vet.
In the Later Case, there are no War Vets, merely Americans
with time in service in support of the American Involvement in Vietnam.
I should like to make it clear that there are some problems I have
with the forward deployment of American Military Personnel into
"Hostile Fire Pay Zones" without the expressed consent of congress
for them to embark upon 'acts of war' - such as Close Air Support,
and a variety of other missions that were embarked upon by american
military personnel in vietnam prior to the Gulf of Tonkien Resolution,
irregardless of it's subsequent standing. In this regards, yes, I do
have some technical concerns about the American MAAG and it's support
of the French in Indochina. Likewise it is one matter to have the OSS
as an Operational Group, during the time of an active War which has the
consent of Congress, but one really needs to resolve the question of
whether or not we need "Direct Action Units", of any type, under the
directorate of the CIA during alledged times of Peace; eg: sans the
constitutionally mandated 'war'.
Given as alledgedly we have 'ended' the ColdWar, it would seem that
we are now at liberty to resolve the whole set of questions about
embarking upon a 'Cold War' and the acceptable limits of "covert
operations" within the american constitutional framework. My primary
concern here is for the rise of the "Kult of Secrecy" and that ubiquitous
FlagWavingFest that is used to shroud it, for reasons of National Security.
It is at this point that we move beyond merely the recitation of
the Glories of the Vietnam war, and around into the Murkey Depth of
Questions about COININTELPRO, the need/use of internal survaillance
systems, the development of the question of "political crimes" in
the USA when previously we really did NOT have the sorts of concerns
about "Ideological Threats" to the American Way of Life.....
{ yes, yes, some of the Hard Corp Red Diaper Babies will of course
drag out the early days of Trade Unionism in the USA and point at the
original concerns about COMMUNIST INFLUENCE as a subversive action,
but as such one is really merely noting the opening salvoes of the
Cold War rather than addressing the problem proper. }
ciao
drieux