Actually, when I went to ‘Nam in ’66, the “hook” class ahead of mine was sent to Afghanistan. The U.S. got kicked out shortly after, but it does make one think about how often we’ve tried and failed in the region..
Because it’s based on a famous political cartoon which showed LBJ showing off a scar in the shape of Vietnam, which in turn was based on an actual event where LBJ showed off a scar in public.
It might also be noted that Nixon/Ford ran the Vietnam war longer than LBJ did, and they lost it. BUT, it was never a war we could have “won” in reality to begin with, just like Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other war of occupation against “Insurgents” fighting to defend their OWN land and lives.
Overall, we have to educate the people of this country of how deals made get us into certain situations; take Iraq for example. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, we gathered the nations of the world and kicked him out. Then we signed an agreement with him (which he himself never signed) to which he thumbed his nose at and made the USA look really stupid because we let him get away with everything short of invading Kuwait again. So thousands of Kurds and thousands of non-Baahtists died. This kind of stuff helped empower another USA hater, Osama. This stuff started long before this, but this is when a rational people should look at the facts and decide, what is best for our country and then stay the course on our decision. I still don’t understand VietNam and what our intent was, but I do know it probably saved us from having another Korean War and ultimately helped us win the Cold War. The point is, our Foreign Policy should not be decided by News reporters, but by chess players.
Zit: Nope, didn’t vote for LBJ, didn’t like him. Didn’t vote for Nixon either, and expected what happened, we didn’t really pull out until April of ’75 because money was being made.
buddy, they were shipping latex out of ’Nam when I was there, as well as exploring for oil, and other minerals. Watching the black market, it was obvious that the Vietnamese were better at “Capitalism”, and it took a couple decades for the banking and WAll street folks to change the regulations to make THEIR “black market” legal- thanks to Gramm, not Frank/Dodd.
Dtroutma, again your knowledge of History, esp. now that I know you were part of it, and how it has impacted the last 5 decades is, simply said, “Right-On.” For the other’s, the root causes: Hồ Chí Minh, He Who Enlightens (19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), though initially a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, then a Jefferson democrat, and then back again, Ho and his Vietminh fought side by side with the Allies against the Japanese and Vichy French in WWII (1941 – 1945). The Allies allowed Ho to believe that he would be allowed to from a Democratic Republic in Vietnam. However, Unknown to Ho and the Vietminh Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin had already decided what would happen to post-war Vietnam at a summit-meeting at Potsdam. The country would be divided into two, the northern half under the Chinese and the southern half under the British. Vietnam was a former French Colony and France would not grant Vietnam independence. Concessions were made to France and the Allies turned their back on Ho so to allow France the opportunity to regain its’ former colony. Subsequently in 1945 the French attempted a coup against the government of Viet Nam and attempted to Capture Ho and other Vietminh leaders. This failed and Ho and the Vietminh escaped into the Jungle where they had no choice but to wage war against France. From there you know the rest of the story, one not unlike our own story against the mightiest foreign power of its’ day, England. Only Ho had to fight three great occupying foreign powers until his death in 1969; first Japan, then France, and finally the United States.The U.S is a great Nation, but at times our politicians have made mistakes.
Dtroutma over 12 years ago
Actually, when I went to ‘Nam in ’66, the “hook” class ahead of mine was sent to Afghanistan. The U.S. got kicked out shortly after, but it does make one think about how often we’ve tried and failed in the region..
Motivemagus over 12 years ago
Because it’s based on a famous political cartoon which showed LBJ showing off a scar in the shape of Vietnam, which in turn was based on an actual event where LBJ showed off a scar in public.
pirate227 over 12 years ago
One for the old folks, I guess.
ReaderLady over 12 years ago
Gives me a pain in my tummy, too.
Dtroutma over 12 years ago
It might also be noted that Nixon/Ford ran the Vietnam war longer than LBJ did, and they lost it. BUT, it was never a war we could have “won” in reality to begin with, just like Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other war of occupation against “Insurgents” fighting to defend their OWN land and lives.
aguirra3 over 12 years ago
Overall, we have to educate the people of this country of how deals made get us into certain situations; take Iraq for example. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, we gathered the nations of the world and kicked him out. Then we signed an agreement with him (which he himself never signed) to which he thumbed his nose at and made the USA look really stupid because we let him get away with everything short of invading Kuwait again. So thousands of Kurds and thousands of non-Baahtists died. This kind of stuff helped empower another USA hater, Osama. This stuff started long before this, but this is when a rational people should look at the facts and decide, what is best for our country and then stay the course on our decision. I still don’t understand VietNam and what our intent was, but I do know it probably saved us from having another Korean War and ultimately helped us win the Cold War. The point is, our Foreign Policy should not be decided by News reporters, but by chess players.
Dtroutma over 12 years ago
^Gerry Ford, Nixon quit in disgrace first, like “W” should have.
Dtroutma over 12 years ago
Zit: Nope, didn’t vote for LBJ, didn’t like him. Didn’t vote for Nixon either, and expected what happened, we didn’t really pull out until April of ’75 because money was being made.
buddy, they were shipping latex out of ’Nam when I was there, as well as exploring for oil, and other minerals. Watching the black market, it was obvious that the Vietnamese were better at “Capitalism”, and it took a couple decades for the banking and WAll street folks to change the regulations to make THEIR “black market” legal- thanks to Gramm, not Frank/Dodd.
Christopher538 over 12 years ago
I must say, this strip is one of the more thought provoking ones out there.
leweclectic over 12 years ago
Dtroutma, again your knowledge of History, esp. now that I know you were part of it, and how it has impacted the last 5 decades is, simply said, “Right-On.” For the other’s, the root causes: Hồ Chí Minh, He Who Enlightens (19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), though initially a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, then a Jefferson democrat, and then back again, Ho and his Vietminh fought side by side with the Allies against the Japanese and Vichy French in WWII (1941 – 1945). The Allies allowed Ho to believe that he would be allowed to from a Democratic Republic in Vietnam. However, Unknown to Ho and the Vietminh Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin had already decided what would happen to post-war Vietnam at a summit-meeting at Potsdam. The country would be divided into two, the northern half under the Chinese and the southern half under the British. Vietnam was a former French Colony and France would not grant Vietnam independence. Concessions were made to France and the Allies turned their back on Ho so to allow France the opportunity to regain its’ former colony. Subsequently in 1945 the French attempted a coup against the government of Viet Nam and attempted to Capture Ho and other Vietminh leaders. This failed and Ho and the Vietminh escaped into the Jungle where they had no choice but to wage war against France. From there you know the rest of the story, one not unlike our own story against the mightiest foreign power of its’ day, England. Only Ho had to fight three great occupying foreign powers until his death in 1969; first Japan, then France, and finally the United States.The U.S is a great Nation, but at times our politicians have made mistakes.