Vietnam not Oswald
Reader comment on item: Lee Harvey Oswald's Malign Legacy

Submitted by Lars Nielsen (Denmark), Nov 25, 2007 at 12:23

The problem with american liberalism changing into antiamericanism has not much to do with Kennedy, except that he was the first president to step up american military presence in Vietnam. And it is the defeat in Vietnam which originated from the moral collapse of the american fighting forces and the home front, which changed american liberals into antagonists of their own country.

Because, what happened in Vietnam was, that the american GI gave up fighting and wanted to go home, and so did his family at home. But instead of admitting the truth, that they lacked motivation to fight, they created a myth about the war being morally wrong, so they could say. Let us leave Vietnam, because the war is morally wrong, and not because we lack motivation. And so, they could deceive all the vietnamese, which had fought for South Vietnam with the americans, without feeling guilty for betraying their friends, and without realising, that it would be harder to get allies, next time U.S. will fight another war.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.