Nationalism
[ QUOTE ]
There are a variety of very clear parallels between the two wars and that we can learn from both the mistakes and success stories in Vietnam.
[/ QUOTE ]
Precisely.
Here's what to me is the most important statement in Melvin Laird's article -- and let's remind ourselves once more that Melvin Laird is among the strongest anti-communists around. Laird writes that "the United States underestimated the nationalism of the Ho Chi Minh followers".
This is an amazing, extraordinary statement. It brings crashing down the whole edifice about the communist conspiracy, the domino effect, etcetera. Whoa, Melvin, the hawks here will have you fried.
Laird goes on to proclaim that, had the United States understood in time the strong, underlying nationalism among the Ho Chi Minh people, in the North and the South, they could have worked with him! Hey, they could've taken a hint when, on September 5, 1945, Ho Chi Minh spoke at a ceremony heralding an independent Vietnam and in his speech he cited the US Declaration of Independence while a band played "The Star Spangled Banner!"..
The ex-Defense Secretary is also critical of the administration's (and his) omission to grasp the importance of the region's nationalist undercurrents in the conflict, implying the historical hostility between China and Vietnam, the enmity between Cambodia and Vietnam, and so on.
Is there a lesson to be drawn from these remarks, that would help the US in the Iraq mess?
You bet your tush there is. And you don't have to change practically any word from what Laird said about the underlying nationalist dynamic.
|