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Was Vietnam War a mistake?

Was Vietnam War a mistake?

  • Yes

    Votes: 83 92.2%

  • No

    Votes: 7 7.8%
  • Total voters
    90
Dekaranger

Dekaranger

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If the US helped Vietnameses fight against French colonists in 1946, the Vietnam War would have never happened. Thousands of American lives would have never been lost for nothing.
 
Dekaranger said:
If the US helped Vietnameses fight against French colonists in 1946, the Vietnam War would have never happened. Thousands of American lives would have never been lost for nothing.
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Yep. And had we strangled hitler in his crib....
 
What did the USA accomplish in Vietnam?

Just sayin'.

To me it looks like we got about as much done there as we did in Iraq.
 
shrubnose said:
What did the USA accomplish in Vietnam?

Just sayin'.

To me it looks like we got about as much done there as we did in Iraq.
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It was the last domino to fall in that theater.
 
Yes, it was a mistake.
 
shrubnose said:
What did the USA accomplish in Vietnam?

Just sayin'.

To me it looks like we got about as much done there as we did in Iraq.
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I think judging a decision solely by it results is short sided. If Steph Curry misses an open 3 we don't say it was a mistake to make the shot. Given our successes in Germany, Japan and Korea the decision was a pretty good one on the face, where we failed was the execution.
 
We can not see the poll results
 
Millions of people were killed ,I think it was both a crime and mass murder
 
Yes it was a mistake. At 1st our intentions were good, but as the years of war went on it was almost like we were just fighting for a tie. War is good for the economy type of thing.
 
Medusa said:
Millions of people were killed ,I think it was both a crime and mass murder
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I hope you don't think that Ho Chi Minh was just some cuddly little peace loving angel? HCM killed off thousands of influential & educated people in the north out of fear that the rest of the population would catch onto his scheme. Then he started murdering members of his inner circle because he feared some of them were gaining a little too much influence with the people.

To understand the Vietnam war, you need to understand the " communist creep " that much of the free world in fear of after WWII. Then you have to look at the attitudes of the Vietnamese people who often suffered under the French colonization/occupation.

But yes, it was a war where many innocent were killed, but it wasn't just Americans and Vietnamese doing the killing. There were many other countries involved with that war.

Those war crimes that you mentioned would apply to at least a dozen countries if you wanted to go down that road.
 
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Hell yeah it was a mistake. No doubt about it. And our inclusion was based on a lie.

I respect those that served there but God what a waste of lives and capital.
 
Dekaranger said:
If the US helped Vietnameses fight against French colonists in 1946, the Vietnam War would have never happened. Thousands of American lives would have never been lost for nothing.
Click to expand...

People view Vietnam in different ways. My view is that Vietnam was a battle during the cold war. A battle lost, that had to be fought in order to win the cold war. It's very easy to look back at Vietnam, come to the conclusion it was all wrong, but doing so doesn't put that war into the context of the times. History taken out of context distorts what happen in the reality of the actual context in which an event took place.

People who view Vietnam as a huge mistake will never change their minds. The history of Vietnam in a lot of history books was written by those in college protesting the war. I think one has to go to as one example, Texas Tech's Vietnam archives to get the true story. The story told by those there.
 
For starters, it was never a war. It was a conflict in which we lost 58,000 Americans servicemen and not one politician.

We lost and look what a terrible country Vietnam has become. And look at all the Vietnamese terrorists we have dealt with since.

No more guerrilla warfare where we can never tell the difference from the enemy and friend. And if you are going to fight you
declare war and get it over with quickly. It was dragged on way too long.
 
RetiredUSN said:
I hope you don't think that Ho Chi Minh was just some cuddly little peace loving angel? HCM killed off thousands of influential & educated people in the north out of fear that the rest of the population would catch onto his scheme. Then he started murdering members of his inner circle because he feared some of them were gaining a little too much influence with the people.

To understand the Vietnam war, you need to understand the " communist creep " that much of the free world in fear of after WWII. Then you have to look at the attitudes of the Vietnamese people who often suffered under the French colonization/occupation.

But yes, it was a war where many innocent were killed, but it wasn't just Americans and Vietnamese doing the killing. There were many other countries involved with that war.

Those war crimes that you mentioned would apply to at least a dozen countries if you wanted to go down that road.
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no excuse is valid for killing ,attacking a nation

I see what is being done in the ME too
 
The French were wise to pull out, but the Americans shouldn't have went in.
 
It was a mistake in the sense that we allowed it to be a politically driven war. A lot of good people died in Vietnam in the name of politics.
 
I have read some on the topic of 'Uncle Ho.' I remember reading that after WW2, he had approached the US about recognition. He was ignored. Perhaps had the US taken a different 'tack', we could have averted the costly and divisive 'Vietnam Conflict.' The US also has blinders on as far as the history of the countries we get militarily involved with. We seemed to ignore the lessons of the French in their struggle to subdue their former colony which culminated with the disastrous defeat at Dien Bien Phu. We ignored Bush, the elder, when he stopped short of Baghdad in the first Gulf War. We ignored both the United Kingdom and the Russian experience in Afghanastan. It is well known war is good for testing new technology and for business. Business in the US controls far more than it should. Korea was a stalemate at best.
 
Fritz said:
The French were wise to pull out, but the Americans shouldn't have went in.
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The French were not in a position to make a choice. They left defeated. It also gave heart to other colonies to throw off the French 'yoke.'
 
Crovax said:
I think judging a decision solely by it results is short sided. If Steph Curry misses an open 3 we don't say it was a mistake to make the shot. Given our successes in Germany, Japan and Korea the decision was a pretty good one on the face, where we failed was the execution.
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Agreed.

Good goals. Good intentions. It was in support of the stated US foreign policy at the time based on Domino Theory.

Bad execution, when DC tried to run the wars remotely and micromanage them, as seen under Johnson as well as under Obama. What is it with Democrats who mistaken believe they know how to conduct war better than the generals who have dedicated their entire military careers to doing so? With the goals of the greatest effect with the minimal expenditure of troops and materials.
 
Dekaranger said:
If the US helped Vietnameses fight against French colonists in 1946, the Vietnam War would have never happened. Thousands of American lives would have never been lost for nothing.
Click to expand...

The Vietnam War was one of those conflicts that was winnable but we kept missing the forest for the trees(no pun intended). The prime example was letting domestic opinion turn the Tet Offensive into a massive US defeat when in reality it broke the back of the Viet Cong.
 
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