Revolutionary Bites

gedenkenbrauchtwissen:

The following is an excerpt from Ronald Reagan’s remarks on the American War with Vietnam (from a news conference in 1982). I have taken the liberty of correcting his historical inaccuracies because I have nothing better to do with my life.

If I recall , when France gave up Indochina as a colony (If by “gave up” you mean “begged the United States to use nuclear weapons in order to keep Vietnam under their power,” then yes, you would be correct), the leading nations of the world met in Geneva with regard tohelping those colonies become independent nations(The conference was initially supposed to be about Korea, not Vietnam).  And since North and South Vietnam had been, previous to colonization, two separate countries(No, they were not), provisions were made that these two countries could by a vote of all of their people together, decide whether they wanted to be one country or not(Actually they were supposed to vote on which government they would have and who would be the leader.  They were not deliberating the question of whether or not to divide or reunite).

And there wasn’t anything surreptitious about it, that when Ho Chi Minhrefused to participate in such an election(South Vietnam refused to participate because Ho Chi Minh was so popular, he definitely would have won) - and there was provision that people of both countries could cross the border and live in the other country if they wanted to.  And when they began leaving by the thousands and thousands from North Vietnam to South Vietnam (Crossing the border wasn’t a national phenomenon or a collective popular decision.  It also was not simply as easy as crossing a border.  It was incredibly dangerous), Ho Chi Minh closed the border(No he did not) and again violated that part of the agreement.

And openly (LOL, “openly”), our country sent military advisers there to help such a country which had been a colony have such things as a national security force, an army(Vietnam actually had an army already… Prior to our involvement, they defeated the French), you might say, or a military to defend itself (I notice you conveniently left out the looming threat of communism and the domino theory).  And they were doing this, if I recall correctly(You do not recall correctly), also in civilian clothes, no weapons(Nope, they were armed the whole time), until they began being blown up where they lived and walking down the street by people riding by on bicycles and throwing pipe bombs at them.  Ad then they were permitted to carry sidearms or wear uniforms.  But it was totally a program until John F. Kennedy - when these attacks and forays became so great that John F. Kennedy authorized the sending in of a division of Marines(Actually, Marines first arrived in 1965 - two years after Kennedy’s assassination).

And that was the first move towards combat troops in Vietnam(…Really?).