"South Vietnam was essentially the creation of the United States." -The Pentagon Papers, 1971 "The failure of our programs in South Vietnam would have heavy influence on the judgments of Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of the Philippines with respect to U.S. durability, resolution, and trustworthiness." -General Maxwell D. Taylor, Jan 22, 1964 In South Vietnam, the CIA's Operation "Phoenix" surveilled and terrorized the countryside. The Phoenix Program was an Agency-run paramilitary operation "to dislodge VC-controlled officials, to include assassination", and more generally, to use such "pacification" techniques as "ambushing, raiding, sabotaging, and committing acts of terrorism against known VC personnel." Counterspy Magazine described Phoenix as: An excerpt: The commander of U.S. forces, General Westmorland, claimed that Orientals don't feel pain like "we" do (The "Mere Gook Rule"): In summary:
What are you objecting to, specifically? The North used partisans/terrorists/guerrillas called the VC whose actions were just the same as you decry in the Phoenix program. If you think the North committed no atrocities you are mistaken. the differenc between the North and the US is that the US had a more free press, while the North was free to censor anything that might see print.
The VC were not controlled by Hanoi. The NLF was a political-guerrilla organization made up of nationalist peasant farmers that were being supported by the population. Hence the reason the U.S. military and the CIA killed so many civilians. The VC did sometimes engage in terrorism which is how the U.S. military came up with the euphemism for its own terror - "counterterror": So that's the logical behind it. The corporate media is even worse than state-run media because its audience already knows they're being deceived and also because Western media content carries all sorts assumptions and ideological presuppositions.
The NLF was founded in Hanoi. Also, the Tet Offensive seems to have been suspiciously well coordinated for Hanoi not to have been involved.
The Vietnam War was unwinnable because North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union, which provided North Vietnam with surface-to-air missiles (SAM's), jet fighters and technical advisers. The Chinese also wanted to benefit from the direct war between the superpowers by provoking a conflict between them in the Gulf of Tonkin and the Chinese role in dragging the US into the Asian conflict cannot be ignored. China was behind the incident in which two US destroyers that had been fired upon in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Hanoi turned to Moscow for aid after the US had already been attacking since 1962. Same with Castro after the Bay of Pigs.
Thank you, Horhey, for digging up another sad chapter of US war history. In my opinion it is very important for the younger generations to learn the truth about their country's committed atrocities. Vietnam seems to be forerunner of "We came, we saw - they died!" Some 58 000 Americans died, too. It is estimated that about 40 000 American draft dodgers fled to Canada. Famous musician Eric Nagler was one of them. Read about it here: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vietnam-war-draft-dodgers-left-mark-in-canada-1.2329725
