[lbo-talk] 30 April 1975 (Re: "Save Darfur" etc)

[B.]

I've seen two sides to the "US lost in Vietnam" issue
from the left. One side -- including, it seems a lot
of Maoists -- say the US withdrawal from Vietnam shows
what relatively untrained peasant militias and
guerillas can do against the world's biggest
superpower. So it's an inspiring example of
anti-imperialist resistance.

Another side, including Chomsky, says the US actually
won the Vietnam war because it achieved its objective
-- to smash the civil society and ensure no meaningful
development could occur. Or least not any that could
make it an exemplar for any other anti-capitalist
country. In that sense, the US won.

-B.

Jim Devine wrote:

"it seems to me that (1) the US lost the war because
US troops were kicked out of VN and US imperial
schemes were stifled temporarily in that area."

Dennis Redmond wrote:

"That's no small victory, no? Vietnam paid a fearsome
toll in blood for its independence, but its victory
also gave the other East Asian developmental states
the breathing-space they needed to flourish."