My own opinion...
1. I do not believe that any conclusive evidence could be shown proving that
the antiwar movement was the cause of the US withdrawal from RVN.
2. The US could have won the war, if winning were possible. However, at the
time when the iron was hot, public opinion and political machinations made
it impossible to conduct said war in an offensive posture. Far too many
limitations imposed on the troops. On the other hand, winning was never
possible. No one "won" the war in SEA. We all came out the losers.
3. I believe that the US foreign policy that supports intervention is not a
policy of ethics. It is a policy of convenience, motivated by greed: greed
for power, greed for wealth, and so forth. 'twould be nice if our government
were altruistic in its interventionist activities. Truth be told, though,
had Kuwait been an exporter of strawberries, it would now be part of Iraq.
4. I believe that if the US had pulled out of SEA in 1965 the bloodbath
would have ensued anyway. Perhaps in different directions with more
attention focused on Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
These are my opinions, founded only in gut instinct and not in fact.
Regards,
Rita
Henriette C. Beigh
henrietteb@imagebuilder.com
Senior Software Quality Assurance Engineer
ImageBuilder Software 6650 Redwood Lane
Suite 200
Portland, OR 97224
(503) 684-5806 ext. 554
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Edmonds" <00aoedmonds@bsuvc.bsu.edu>
To: <sixties-l@lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: [sixties-l] Re:Vietnam War
> David Horowitz wrote:
>
>
> ---because losing it cost the lives
> >of two and a half million poor people in Indo-China whose blood is on
your
> hands Mike,
> >along with all the rest of us who forced America's withdrawal.
>
> Are you saying that the antiwar movement forced U.S. withdrawal? If so,
I'd
> be interested in your evidence. Can you come up with a reasonable
scenario
> by which America could have "won" the war? Do you believe that the U.S.
> should have intervened in all nations where evil was being done? Is it
not
> possible that had we withdrawn in 1965 that millions who died between
> 1965-1975 would in fact not have? I realize these questions cannot be
> answered easily, but I'd appreciate some brief thoughts.
>
> Tony Edmonds
> History, Ball State University
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jun 14 2000 - 20:29:05 CUT