Vietnam
I knew about Vietnam. I knew about the atrocities at My Lai. I have seen the documentaries. I knew about “search and destroy” missions. I knew about napalm and Agent Orange. I was aware of the secret wars in Laos and Cambodia. I learned all about the prisoners of war we left behind. I watched Apocalypse Now and Born on the Fourth of July. I have never been a believer in government propaganda; I search for the truth through the lies of the popular story. I knew everything about Vietnam and nothing at all. I was completely unaware that the United States, France, Great Britain, China, the Soviet Union, representatives from North and South Vietnam met in Geneva in 1954 and agreed to temporarily divide the country at the 17th parallel. There were to be nationwide elections in 1956 to create a new united government. Ho Chi Minh, a Communist, ruled the North. Ngo Dinh Diem, who the United States supported, ruled the South. It was Diem who later refused to allow nationwide election. His government became a dictatorship, rather than a democracy. He placed his family in positions of power and used a secret police force to suppress any decent. We continued to support him. Even after he executed 12,000 political prisoners an . . .
The following morning, Johnson sent Congress his previously prepared request: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress approve and support the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further Aggression. There was only one new truth I uncovered that truly shocked me. Johnson prepared a request, but then waited for an opportune moment. In his speech he said: “Repeated acts of violence against the armed forces of the United States must be met not only with alert defense, but with positive reply. This is the narrative of the dominant story. Freak weather effects and overeager sonarmen may have accounted for many reports. Why would we do such a thing? According to President John F. By 1964, the North Vietnamese were supplying the Vietcong guerillas using a network of footpaths running through the jungles and mountains which connected the two countries. I knew nothing, and the only thing I am left with after learning so much more, is not the sense that “Now, I know the truth. ” Vice-President Lyndon Johnson may have been a little more honest when he said, “Shit, Diem’s the only boy we got out there. Once we were building runways and airbases, well someone has to defend them. Their homes had been wrecked, their chickens killed, their rice confiscated – and if they weren’t pro-Vietcong before we got there, they sure as hell were by the time we left. “We are prepared to continue to assist them (the South Vietnamese government), but I don’t think the war can be won unless the people support the effort, and in my opinion, in the last two months the government has gotten out of touch with the people.
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