War related museums feature pictures of mutilated or dead bodies and children deformed by Agent Orange. Deformed children are still being born 40 years later. Royalties for one of the books I read, Laura Lam's, Late Blossom, go to an orphanage for these children.
Her book says this about why the U.S. failed: U.S. soldiers were fighting against a concept - communism. The Vietnamese just wanted their country back. Guess which was more motivational. How many 18-year-old draftees knew about or thought much about communism, anyway? The domino theory maintained that all of southeast Asia would go communist if Vietnam did.
After 58,000+ dead American soldiers and six to seven times that many Vietnamese civilians, what is Vietnam today? Communist – albeit free-market communist (whatever that means) since 1986.
I'm sorta glad I won't be around to see if Americans can go as tourists to Iraq in 30 years and get a friendly welcome.
By the way, Monsanto, this time along with Dow chemicals, wants to reintroduce the use of herbicide 2, 4-D, half of the infamous defoliant Agent Orange. Salesmen and lobbyists are all over the world. More text below. |