Forgive me if I am in breach of some kind of on-line etiquette here but this you-tube video of the Vietnam fiasco seemed profoundly appropriate...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEABsKGOCCIDid you know that, "We were over there, to keep communism from spreading." Some even claimed, "...to keep communism from spreading over here!" Many Americans honestly felt this way. Many of them felt that the anti war protesters were communist sympathizers out to destroy America!
Instead of "Liberals" and "Conservatives", we were divided into "Hawks" and "Doves". Many Doves felt that the real reason we were over there was so those who made money off of bombs and tanks and bullets and etc. could make EVEN MORE money. Other Doves would argue that we were over there so America could test out our new hi-tech toys in battle.
I remember hearing these very debates and heated arguments... I am hearing them again it seems.
I still do not know the real reason we were over there. I do know that Ho Chi Minh wanted to re-unite Viet Nam, a notion which the French took exception to. I have heard that Ho Chi Minh tried to write a Constitution based on ours and at one point even asked for American aid. I understand that America was very reluctant to go against our old WWII chum France, so we ignored Ho Chi Minh's requests. Still, I have never understood why America needed to be there after France got evicted.
In hindsight it was a tragic waste, one which we appear to be repeating....and again I do not know the real reason. Perhaps Oil, perhaps to stop the terrorists from spreading....here, perhaps bush is an idiot. Thanks to the internet, I can easily refute the terrorists participating in a modern version of the Domino Theory but truth be told, I may never know the real reason why we are in Iraq!
At least this time around my fellow Americans are NOT spitting on the returning troops...yes, this did happen! I hope you all remember that. I urge you all to continue to do nice things for our returning troops. At the very least buy them a beer when you bump into them at a bar...perhaps mow their yard for them if they are a neighbor... use your imagination, just do SOMETHING to let them know that we care this time.
If you could, you just might think about extending this good will to ALL of our veterans. With the tragic hate and divisiveness going on in our country, these little acts of kindness can go a long way.
I have always liked that song by Black Sabbath...it came out while the fight was going on in Viet Nam
It somehow seems as appropriate today as it was back then. It reminds me to keep my anger focused: ON THE REAL WARPIGS!
:patriot: