Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Search for Black and White
A couple of additional points here, Clif. First of all, you've been saying consistently that it was the Dulles brothers who "blocked" the Vietnamese elections. It wasn't. It was Diem. Granted, we agreed with him and continued to support him. But that's a lot different than saying that WE blocked the elections............................................................Secondly, I find it very disturbing that you see the bulk of these foreign policy issues in such a cut and dry manner. They aren't (most of them, anyway) cut and dry, Clif. They're murky and sometimes involve us in having to choose the lesser of two unappealing choices. Take, for instance Eisenhower having to pick between a Communist and non-Communist pig. He made the best decision he could (especially considering the time-frame he made it in)...............................................................Thirdly, Clif, in terms of the domino theory, there are clearly arguments for it and against it. I base my opinion that it made at least some sense on the fact (as Rufus Phillips points out in "Why Vietnam Matters") that a lot of the countries in that region had extremely corrupt governments and, because of that, were vulnerable. I also point out to the fact that South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia all went Communist after our departure from theatre (you, of course, could argue that Thailand and Indonesia didn't). And, really, Clif, the fact that you continue to use 2009 sensibilities in your micro-analysis here - 53 years after the frigging fact!..........................................................And, finally, Clif, JFK (another of my favorite presidents) had a significant opportunity to change the course here (and, yes, he probably would have done so had he lived). But he didn't. He continued to support Diem (I guess you have an argument with Kennedy here, Clif), increased the number of advisers to 13,000, and, with Diem, helped to formulate the idiotic strategy of Strategic Hamlet. Not exactly a stellar record, either. Murky, one might say.
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4 comments:
Will, Cliffy like most liberals believes in shades of gray in everything but Republicans.
Not to mention that hindsight is always 20/20. That's called being an "intellectual" in the Dem party.
And remember also, that due to Dem distrust and contempt for the military, Vietnam was micro-managed by the Administration.
(McNamara in particular)
There are countless stories of commanders in the field having to carry out orders based on conditions that were no longer true, thus rendering the orders nonsensical.
"I also point out to the fact that South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia all went Communist after our departure from theatre..."
Will, your forgetting that according to Clif communism is OK as long as there's more than one version of it.
Clif is supporting democracy by advocating for more than one communist at a time...
Should be interesting how this plays out Will.
Hugo Chavez just called Obama ignorant.
Which hero will the lefties at LC's come out and support?
Hopefully, Cliffy will pick Obama. This is perhaps the one instance where I'd forgive his partisanship. LOL Hey, I also heard that Ahmadinejad doesn't want to talk to Obama, either. Cliffy's world must be truly spinning here.
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