orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (01/05/86)
Being an antiwar protesting veteran of the Vietnam War era, I have to point out some facts to Frank Adams: > > Let's try to get our stories straight. We did not put a bomb crater in > about every square mile of south-east Asia in support of French imperialism. > We didn't do very much in support of French imperialism at all. We did > support it officially, but our interests in the French alliance in Europe > were (and still are) far more important to us than all of south-east Asia. > In fact the US supplied over 50% of the military supplies used by the French in Indochina. It is well-known that the US was so keen on supporting the French and concerned about their potential defeat at Dien Ben Phu that then Vice President Nixon urged Eisenhower to use nuclear weapons to prevent a French defeat. Fortunately Eisenhower refused because of an understandable concern about the use of nuclear weapons. However that did not prevent the US from immediately rushing into the vacumn left by the French defeat and supporting Diem as the "legitimate" government of South Vietnam. The US opposed the Geneva Accords of 1954 when they were negotiated and also opposed them in action by supporting Diem in his refusal to hold the elections of 1956 provided for by the Geneva Accords of 1954. Even Eisenhower admitted that Ho Chi Minh would have undoubtedly won those elections if they had been held as scheduled. > > An interesting comparison: while the U.S. was fighting in South Vietnam on > behalf of the government there, there were hardly any refugees. When that > government lost, there was a flood of them. The Soviet Union is fighting > in Afghanistan on behalf of its government. Guess what? There are a > flood of refugees. > Frank Adams ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Again, you are simply wrong Frank. There were *plenty* of refugess from bombed areas and villages. They were forced into the equivalent of concentration camps in the "strategic hamlet" program begun by William Colby. People from villages considered sympathetic to the Viet Cong were forcibly relocated into these "strategic hamlets" which were surrounded by barbed wire and soldiers so that they could be "controlled". "the truth shall set you free!" tim sevener whuxn!orb
franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) (01/06/86)
In article <457@whuts.UUCP> orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) writes: >Being an antiwar protesting veteran of the Vietnam War era, I have >to point out some facts to Frank Adams: >> >> Let's try to get our stories straight. We did not put a bomb crater in >> about every square mile of south-east Asia in support of French imperialism. >> We didn't do very much in support of French imperialism at all. We did >> support it officially, but our interests in the French alliance in Europe >> were (and still are) far more important to us than all of south-east Asia. > >In fact the US supplied over 50% of the military supplies used by the >French in Indochina. [Remainder of paragraph deleted since it in no way >contradicts what I said.] I would be interested in a source for this. When you say supplied, do you include sales of supplies as well as donations? Even if this is correct, it remains the case that we did not bomb south-east Asia in support of French imperialism. >> An interesting comparison: while the U.S. was fighting in South Vietnam on >> behalf of the government there, there were hardly any refugees. When that >> government lost, there was a flood of them. The Soviet Union is fighting >> in Afghanistan on behalf of its government. Guess what? There are a >> flood of refugees. > >Again, you are simply wrong Frank. There were *plenty* of refugess from >bombed areas and villages. They were forced into the equivalent of >concentration camps in the "strategic hamlet" program begun by William >Colby. People from villages considered sympathetic to the Viet Cong >were forcibly relocated into these "strategic hamlets" which were surrounded >by barbed wire and soldiers so that they could be "controlled". Any war produces displaced persons. The fact remains that the wave of people *leaving the country* from Vietnam occurred only after the takeover; the similar wave in Afghanistan is occurring now. Frank Adams ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Multimate International 52 Oakland Ave North E. Hartford, CT 06108