Incorrect chronology on Nixon, plus, JFK asssssinated the President of South Vietnam
What Nixon did not do, and he was not in office for, was to fulfil his private assurance to restart the bombing if the NVA broke the agreement and invaded. Make no mistake, the Linebacker II was the policy the US should have had from Day 1, and it utterly "sacked" the North and utterly deterred them from invading further.
The question has always been, how long would the US be willing to keep up such bombardment? How much would North Vietnam have to be crumbling to get them to stop?
How many of their sons and daughters would have to do die fighting for a cause that was more about decades of French imperialism and their right to self-determination? How much killing by the US, even under strict RoE, would justify preventing the current and even more coming atrocities at the hands of the Vietnamese themselves?
Sometimes the answer is not to be a part of them, sadly enough. Atrocities happened during the French rule and after the US left. They were only exposed more while the US was there, and yet another proof that the US media does a far better job of exposing its own faults that other media does of theirs (especially the French on Vietnam, it's pathetic in comparison, even before we consider Algeris).
Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton and W. have all had to struggle with the issues of "doing right" v. "the US does not have the right to mess with self-determination." Columbia has been a very interesting example, with US advisors having to "pull out" when their advisement is even tied to affecting the self-determination of a nation in the "War on Drugs." The legal study of post '70s US policy, especially covert, is one of great interest. It's not as simplistic as people make it out to be, and the US Court system has regularly been involved.
Actually, he did. The agreement was signed at the beginning of 1973 IIRC, just after his re-election.Nixon opened up trade with China and got South American countries to cooperate with the DEA. Had he completed his second term I believe he would have ended American involvement in Viet Nam.
What Nixon did not do, and he was not in office for, was to fulfil his private assurance to restart the bombing if the NVA broke the agreement and invaded. Make no mistake, the Linebacker II was the policy the US should have had from Day 1, and it utterly "sacked" the North and utterly deterred them from invading further.
The question has always been, how long would the US be willing to keep up such bombardment? How much would North Vietnam have to be crumbling to get them to stop?
How many of their sons and daughters would have to do die fighting for a cause that was more about decades of French imperialism and their right to self-determination? How much killing by the US, even under strict RoE, would justify preventing the current and even more coming atrocities at the hands of the Vietnamese themselves?
Sometimes the answer is not to be a part of them, sadly enough. Atrocities happened during the French rule and after the US left. They were only exposed more while the US was there, and yet another proof that the US media does a far better job of exposing its own faults that other media does of theirs (especially the French on Vietnam, it's pathetic in comparison, even before we consider Algeris).
Most Americans forget that JFK assassinated the President of South Vietnam. I don't care what the justification was, it was actions like that by the US from post-WWII until the '70s that caused Ford to finally sign an executive order against such.The whole Kennedy family is one sad unfunny punchline. The fact that Asshole Ted was their legacy proves the point. JFK's foreign policies were the set up for that joke. The embargo against Cuba, the conflict in Viet Nam, the missile crisis and the only good policy he started IMO was the peace corps.
Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton and W. have all had to struggle with the issues of "doing right" v. "the US does not have the right to mess with self-determination." Columbia has been a very interesting example, with US advisors having to "pull out" when their advisement is even tied to affecting the self-determination of a nation in the "War on Drugs." The legal study of post '70s US policy, especially covert, is one of great interest. It's not as simplistic as people make it out to be, and the US Court system has regularly been involved.