-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: 25 years ago Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 19:27:05 -0400 From: Julio Pino <jpino at kent.edu> Reply-To: marxism at lists.panix.com To: marxism at lists.panix.com
Good Morning Viet Nam! Giaia Phong! Viva la Republica Socialista! Viva Tio Ho!
I'd like to respond to Jack's post in the spirit of comradely debate. When he was asked what the major lesson of WWII had been for the military, Gen. Bernard ("Monty" to you) Montgomery said, "No one will ever again invade Russia by land." I'd say the US imperialists learned more from the Viet Nam debacle than their opponents in the US did.The United States now has what I call the Muhammed Ali doctrine. Recall that in the 1970s, after knocking out Frazer and Foreman,The Greatest would only step into the ring when he could fight chump opponents---overweight and over-the-hill suckers whom Ali would beat to a pulp and then collect his $1million(small change by contemporary boxing, I know). Likewise, today's New York Times (4/30/00)carries an editorial by liberal political scientist Ronald Steele in which he says the foreign policy of the US towards "rogue states" should be either pick them off quickly and thoroughly(Panama, Grenada), or if they prove capable of putting up a fight, leave them alone(Cuba, Yugoslavia, Iraq)to "gather dust".
Contrary to what many in the anti-war movement believed at the time, the US was not destined to fight 2,3 many Viet Nams in the Third World after 1975.Even Reagan wasn't stupid enough to commit ground troops to Central America.Yes, the repulsion of the American peple against "another Viet Nam" played a big role in that, but more importantly, US interests were preserved through more insidious means; "Low intensity warfare" in El Salvador(death squads) and "Low-inensity democracy" in Nicaragua, ie strangle the Nicaraguan people into voting the FSLN out of office.
The worlwide movement against the Viet Nam War was heroic, and played a significant part in the victory of the Indochinese people, but we must realize that a Viet Nam-style war, with a massive commitment of US troops, is highly unlikely in the near future. An anti-imperialist movement must be built that can counter all possible US tactics against those forces who challenge US hegemony, and as long as GI's aren't coming home in body bags, that won't be easy to do. IMHO, the US left failed in mobilizing the public against the agressions on Iraq and Yugoslavia precisely because it was primed for the wrong kind of war, and is now unequipped politically for the widening conflict in Colombia.
Julio Cesar At 02:49 PM 4/28/00 -0400, you wrote:
>The Vietnam war ended officially 25 years ago this Sunday, April 30.
>The war gave rise to an historic antiwar movement which almost turned
>this country upside-down. Considering the possibility of a resurgent
>movement today, an examination of the mass movement of 1965-75 may be a
>useful way to observe the anniversary.