Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site hou5d.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ucbvax!ucbcad!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!ariel!hou5f!hou5g!hou5h!hou5a!hou5d!mat From: mat@hou5d.UUCP Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc Subject: Re: Domino theory Message-ID: <997@hou5d.UUCP> Date: Fri, 22-Jun-84 15:05:03 EDT Article-I.D.: hou5d.997 Posted: Fri Jun 22 15:05:03 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Jun-84 23:52:53 EDT References: <560@opus.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ Lines: 44 There is some unhappy irony to 'Nam. I have a book called ``The Ten- Thousand Day War'', which points out several things. First, during and after WWII, we were friendly with Ho Chi Minh (NOT his real name). Viet Nam was ``French Indo-China'' back then. Second, our military intelligence services made some promises of aid. In return, HCM promised to institute a Constitutional government. Third, we backed out on our promise to keep the French happy, instead of trying to negotiate a solution between DeGaulle and HCM. Fourth, HCM went to the USSR for aid, since we lied to him. Fifth, when HCM started talking to the USSR we saw Red and decided that we had to kick his butt. HCM had to accept Soviet ideology and methods to get their aid against the French (whom we backed). Sixth, when the French and the native Viet Namese were fighting the French got their butts kicked. Douglas MacArthur said that there was NO WAY a foriegn power could secure the land militarily, given the terrain and large-scale geography. Remember, MacArthur still holds the third-highest graduating score ever awarded at West Point. If MacArthur said it was impossible, it probably was. Welching on HCM and then insisting on setting up a puppet in the South (rather than trying to get HCM and Franch to sit tight for a few years -- the French needed to regain their pride after WWII and wouldn't have backed off) cost and is costing millions of lives and really screwed up this country, human rights and life in general in IndoChina. Realpolitik dictated that we back the French over our word as we gave it to HCM. In this case, idealism would have served better. Most of the time when we are idealist, realpolitik would do better. If we could only straighten our act up and find out which to use when, we would be one hell of a lot better off -- and so would everyone else in the world. By the way, the ``10,000 Day War'' book cost me about twelve bucks (THICK hardcover) and is about the most boring book I have ever tried to read. -- from Mole End Mark Terribile (scrape .. dig ) hou5d!mat ,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*. (soon hou4b!mat)