Learning From Vietnam
This article was republished in "There Will Be War" Volume VI, "Guns of Darkness"
From the editor's introduction:
"Doan Van Toai was a ranking officer with the Vietcong and worked briefly with the Hanoi government after the fall of South Vietnam. He soon learned the true nature of the cause he had supported.
He is now a research associate at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
David Chanoff is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University."
A few choice quotes:
"Rally all forces which can be rallied, neutralize all forces which can be neutralized, eliminate all forces which can be eliminated".
Truong Nhu Tang (a founder of the NLF, now an exile in France):
"The Communists are expert in the art of seduction and will go to any length to woo you over to their side, as long as they don't control the government. But once they are in power, they suddenly become harsh, ungateful, cynical and destroy you without hesitation."
Mai Chi Tho, brother of Le Duc Tho:
"Ho Chi Minh may have been an evil man: Nixon may have been a great man. The Americans may have had the just cause; we may not have had the just cause. But we won and the Americans were defeated because we convinced the people that Ho Chi Minh is the great man, that Nixon is a murderer, and the Americans are the invaders... The key factor is how to control people and their opinions. Only Marxism-Leninism can do that... Between you- the bright intellectuals- and me, I tell you the truth."
(Now you know why every prominent leftist in American politics is lauded as some intellectual giant.)
"In a conflict where the media have access to one side and not to the other, these incidents will regularly depict the brutality of our allies and ourselves, and rarely that of our enemies.
"At the same time, the mechanisms our society has evolved to achieve "open government" will ensure that much of our tactics and strategy will be public knowledge and open to criticism both emotional and rational. We will know exactly the extent of our economic and military assistance to a government many feel to be unsavory. But the truth about foreign supply and troop inflation to the guerrillas will remain conjectural. We will have detailed reports on how our soldiers feel about fighting and dying in an alien place. But we will know little that is credible about the enemy except for his courage and perseverance. The stupidity, negligence, and failures accompanying our involvement will be spotlighted each night on television. But the same kind of information about guerrilla troubles will simply not be available.
"Consequently, media reportage will seem to maximize our difficulties and minimize those of the other side."
...
"Another given is the predilection of the American Left to embrace "national liberation movements" of every stripe as long as there is an element of anti-Americanism in them."
Read the whole article, and think about the current administration, its actions, and its agenda... and the media's return to treason.
From the editor's introduction:
"Doan Van Toai was a ranking officer with the Vietcong and worked briefly with the Hanoi government after the fall of South Vietnam. He soon learned the true nature of the cause he had supported.
He is now a research associate at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
David Chanoff is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University."
A few choice quotes:
"Rally all forces which can be rallied, neutralize all forces which can be neutralized, eliminate all forces which can be eliminated".
Truong Nhu Tang (a founder of the NLF, now an exile in France):
"The Communists are expert in the art of seduction and will go to any length to woo you over to their side, as long as they don't control the government. But once they are in power, they suddenly become harsh, ungateful, cynical and destroy you without hesitation."
Mai Chi Tho, brother of Le Duc Tho:
"Ho Chi Minh may have been an evil man: Nixon may have been a great man. The Americans may have had the just cause; we may not have had the just cause. But we won and the Americans were defeated because we convinced the people that Ho Chi Minh is the great man, that Nixon is a murderer, and the Americans are the invaders... The key factor is how to control people and their opinions. Only Marxism-Leninism can do that... Between you- the bright intellectuals- and me, I tell you the truth."
(Now you know why every prominent leftist in American politics is lauded as some intellectual giant.)
"In a conflict where the media have access to one side and not to the other, these incidents will regularly depict the brutality of our allies and ourselves, and rarely that of our enemies.
"At the same time, the mechanisms our society has evolved to achieve "open government" will ensure that much of our tactics and strategy will be public knowledge and open to criticism both emotional and rational. We will know exactly the extent of our economic and military assistance to a government many feel to be unsavory. But the truth about foreign supply and troop inflation to the guerrillas will remain conjectural. We will have detailed reports on how our soldiers feel about fighting and dying in an alien place. But we will know little that is credible about the enemy except for his courage and perseverance. The stupidity, negligence, and failures accompanying our involvement will be spotlighted each night on television. But the same kind of information about guerrilla troubles will simply not be available.
"Consequently, media reportage will seem to maximize our difficulties and minimize those of the other side."
...
"Another given is the predilection of the American Left to embrace "national liberation movements" of every stripe as long as there is an element of anti-Americanism in them."
Read the whole article, and think about the current administration, its actions, and its agenda... and the media's return to treason.
