Great TV Show: "The Vietnam War" a Documentary by Ken Burns. American history.

I just saw what happened between 1850 and 1963... The French invaded and made Indo-China a colony.
During WW2 the French left to go home and fight the Germans and the Japanese invaded. When WW2 was over the Japanese left and Vietnam was governed briefly by the
Vietnamese people. Then the French invaded again and Ho Chi Minh fought them until the late 1950s when the French surrendered and left. At that time the USA was
helping the French. The country split into the North [Communist] and the South [Capitalist] in 1954. In many ways Vietnam War was a replay of the Korean
War. However, the USA foreign policy that had worked in Korea failed to work in Vietnam. 
In the early 1960s Vice President Nixon went on TV and explained to the American People "The Domino Principle"... how the Red Chinese were supporting the Viet Minh in
North Vietnam just like they had supported the North Koreans... He explained that if we did not stop the Red Chinese in Vietnam they would continue to make many other
Asian countries Communist. Eventually the whole world would turn Communist and we would be fighting them at our border with Mexico. Watching Nixon on TV his concept
seemed reasonable... The people of the USA were busy raising children and were not very interested in the events half way around the world in Vietnam.
President Eisenhower sent more American troops as advisors to the South Vietnamese army. President Kennedy continued and so did President Johnson...
Eventually, President Nixon ended the war by making the Vietnamese fight their own civil war. It's interesting to see Nixon at the Start and the End. I see that the main
problem in Vietnam was the French. They had a colony there and treated the natives like inferior people. Ho Chi Minh was a great hero to his people and fought for
freedom from Foreign invaders just like Mao Tse Tung did in China. True Freedom Fighters.
During the last years of the French occupation the Commanding General said that French victory was near and that "he could see victory like the light at the end of a
tunnel." A famous quote... Echoed by American Generals.
After we lost the Vietnam War the USA was at Peace with the world for about a decade. Then we invaded Nicaragua and chose sides in another civil war during
the term of President Reagan. He failed to learn the lessons of Vietnam even though as Governor of California he was in an excellent position to observe the Anti-War
movement. Berkley was a center of demonstrations and Governor Reagan did call in National Guard troops to stifle dissent. So he had to have considered the questions
raised by the people protesting. Eventually President Bush invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. The USA spent about 6 trillion dollars and thousands of lives blowing up
those two countries. Sadly, all that effort did not make America safer nor did it improve the quality of life in those countries. Bush also failed to grasp the
concepts learned during the Vietnam War. So here it is: Let those people over there solve their own problems. It's their country and they should run it however
they want... DUH!
While it now seems absurd for anyone to actually believe the War in Vietnam was a good idea, at the time it was popular. During the 1950s and early 1960s the people of
the USA were rather obedient. As My Uncle said: "If the Government said go to war in Korea, you just went." It wasn't until the late 1960s that people started to think
for themselves and question authority. Corporations promoted the War as a way to increase profits. For example: Hughes Aircraft sold a lot of Helicopters.
Dow chemical sold a lot of Agent Orange and Napalm. Corporations sold airplanes, boats, uniforms, medical supplies, meals ready to eat, rifles bullets and coffins.
President Eisenhower warned us about the Military Industrial Complex and he was right. During the 1950s the USA also had a Panic Attack about Communists...
Senator Joe McCarthy had investigations of Commies in the entertainment industry. He felt that Hollywood had great power of persuasion by creating propaganda.
He wanted to make sure that the propaganda promoted Capitalism and The American Way of Life. Many people could still remember the 1930s and the Great Depression
when Capitalism self destructed. We were fighting the Reds world wide... It's funny that later Nixon opened up trade with China, the largest Communist Country.
Another often forgotten part of American History is when President Reagan provided weapons and advisors to the "Freedom Fighters" in Afghanistan. They were
the Mugahaddin and they were fighting the invading army of the Russians. The children of those freedom fighters were called The Taliban and are classified as
"Terrorists" for fighting the invading army of The Americans. Ironic? Yes...  The only difference between a "Freedom Fighter" and a "Terrorist" is who they
are trying to throw out of their country...
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I remember protesting against the war in Vietnam. I'm glad that I did. History has shown that the war was a terrible mistake. The government was lying to the American
people and it took a long time for us to realize that they were lying. Eventually, the American People forced the government to stop killing.
After the war was over we enjoyed peace for about ten years. Then the government invaded Nicaragua and Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria. Each invasion was wrong.
We are still stuck in an endless war in Afghanistan with no possible hope of ending. Those people will defend their country against foreign invaders forever.
Every war has made the USA less safe. When we blow up a country the survivors plan revenge against us. Some times we supply the weapons like we did with ISIS. 

A better plan is for the USA to simply stop invading countries. War Does Not Work.