(Login dori0) Discussing folks Posted Jan 24, 2009 5:25 PM
the Vietnamese, but against Communism. North Vietnam was one of several hot spots of communism we were attempting to squelch and prevent from spreading further. Whether or not you feel we needed to be there, the military thought we did. What went wrong was Congress getting involved and tying the hands of the generals in charge, as is usually the case. It could have been over within a few weeks of heavy bombing, but there were too many innocent people who would have been taken out, too, so that was out of the question. By the time a strategy finally emerged, Americans had tired of the war and more and more people began to want it to be over. We finally pulled out of there and what happened next? Communism got a stronghold.
Not everyone agrees that Communism was a threat, just as not everyone agrees radical Islam is a threat. There are many hot spots in the world and the US has made its presence known in them from time to time, to prevent the "bad guys" from taking control. It's a matter of perspective about whether or not we should be the world's police force, but much of the stability of the world is a result of our involvement.