Vietnam a different case

Submitted by Marian Hennings (United States), Nov 25, 2002 at 12:49

The Vietnam conflict was different from the current situation. The U.S. was wrong in that instance, just as it was in the machinations against Mossadegh in Iran and against Arbenz in Guatemala. This has nothing to do with the current situation, in which our territory was attacked and our citizens killed. Lumping all these disparate situations together weakens your argument and makes the U.S. look as if it cannot admit a mistake. All countries make mistakes; ours is no different, but the consequences of our mistakes are greater because of our power and influence in the world. Just because we were wrong to involve ourselves in the internal affairs of Vietnam, Iran, and Guatemala does not mean we are wrong to combat the current threat that we face from Islamic fundamentalists.

I feel that fundamentalists of all faiths are a threat to liberty - Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. I recently read your book, Militant Islam Comes to America, and agreed with much of it except for your comments on conservatives being right and the liberals being wrong. The conservatives are not right in their alliance with the Muslim states and the Vatican in opposing birth control, for instance. One objection I have to the influx of Muslims is that they will unite with fundamentalist Christians in this country to try to take away freedoms many of us cherish - the right to decide when or if to have a child, for instance. I fear that if we keep letting people into our country who do not share our values, we will eventually be having repression and religious riots here.

---

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 and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".