Just began watching the Vietnam series

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Who would have thought building a military fortress in a valley like the French did at Dien Bien Phu would be a good idea?

We should have tried to work with Ho when he requested our support. When we didn't and he began the forced collectivization and the crushing of dissent and religious liberty there was no way we could work with him.

Just a mess. America can't fix every problem.

[Baclava]

1. JFK had it right, in the beginning it was a scenario of us protecting French colonialism...

... or letting the people of Vietnam decide how to run their county.

They could have ended the escalation in '64 but neither side was giving in, Uncle Ho lost control of the North to his generals or they could have won it just by waiting for the South's govt. to collapse on it's own, instead of attacking and forcing the US to get more involved. Both sides badly misjudged the other.

Body count was no measure of "winning" when you didn't hold territory, escalation of bombing when the leadership knew there wasn't a winning strategy by '67. It only gets worse.

The South hated their own corrupt government as much as the communists all the way through the war and didn't see Americans as any better than the French who kept them as their colony since the 1880's.

[Ernesto]

2. I tried to watch........

but soon realized that this shit was something I've been trying to forget about for 50 f**kin' years.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Thank you for your service.

[coolsandy]

3. I'm on Episode 8 of the Civil War. We haven't fixed the circumstances of that war yet.

[Blue_Tires]

4. Yeah, that's the kind of shit you pull

when you grossly underestimate the intelligence of your opponent