Quote:
Originally Posted by Laker14
With all due respect, these "gains" he describes are very very questionable.
I hope I am allowed to make a distinction between my support for those who served in Vietnam, for whom I have nothing but respect and admiration, and my loathing for the policy that was the war.
I don't want to hijack this thread to start a point by point dialogue between you and me on purported gains of that war.
Let me just say I don't agree with him.
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The "he" is me.
I am not praising the American policy, but am recognizing that other nations had their reasons, totally distinct from the Kennedy/Johnson viewpoint, for their participation. The "law of unintended consequences" applied due to the Vietnam War, and no one in the Kennedy/Johnson administrations ever considered anything but their points of view. That's why it is so important not to look at the world solely through one set of nationalistic eyes. That's why having a robust, insightful and pragmatic intelligence collection-and-analysis operation not concerned with current-administration political posturing is critical to diplomatic and military planning and operations.