Viet Nam: Some help for a paper please

[SheetWise]

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What lessons have been drawn as a consequence of how the popular culture has been shaped, and to what purposes have they been applied?

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Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. -- Otto von Bismarck

Add war to the list. Laws, sausages, and war. Viet Nam was the first war we saw being made -- and it disgusted us. I was 18 the year it ended, and had protested the war for years. While the MSM was able to show me war -- it was incapable of showing me the alternative to war.

In the "peace" that followed the war, ~1.7MM South Vietnamese died as a result of our 'withdrawal'. I subsequently met many of the survivors -- and am to this day ashamed of the positions I took. I am equally ashamed of my government for not countering the media perception with footage of enemy attrocities.


Senator AIKEN. I was going to ask you next what the attitude of the Saigon government would be if we announced that we were going to withdraw our troops, say, by October lst, and be completely out of there -- air, sea, land -- leaving them on their own. What do you think would be the attitude of the Saigon government under those circumstances?

Mr. KERRY. Well, I think if we were to replace the Thieu-Ky-Khiem regime and offer these men sanctuary somewhere, which I think this Government has an obligation to do since we created that government and supported it all along. I think there would not be any problems. The number two man at the Saigon talks to Ambassador Lam was asked by the Concerned Laymen, who visited with them in Paris last month, how long they felt they could survive if the United States would pull out and his answer was 1 week. So I think clearly we do have to face this question. But I think, having done what we have done to that country, we have an obligation to offer sanctuary to the perhaps 2,000, 3,000 people who might face, and obviously they would, we understand that, might face political assassination or something else. But my feeling is that those 3,000 who may have to leave that country --

Senator AIKEN. I think your 3,000 estimate might be a little low because we had to help 800,000 find sanctuary from North Vietnam aFter the French lost at Dienbienphu. But assuming that we resettle the members of the Saigon government, who would undoubtedly be in danger, in some other area, what do you think would be the attitude, of the large, well-armed South Vietnamese army and the South Vietnamese people? Would they be happy to have us withdraw or what?

Mr. KERRY. Well, Senator, this, obviously is the most difficult question of all, but I think that at this point the United States is not really in a position to consider the happiness of those people as pertains to the army in our withdrawal. We have to consider the happiness of the people as pertains to the life which they will be able to lead in the next few years.


How about the next few weeks. 1.7 million. Oops.