A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War” - George Ross

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• 
  hwaet
  August 27th, 2022
  

  poor American soldiers, boohoo

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  jeffrey2
  August 27th, 2022
  

  @hwaet
  surely that should read “poor american CONSCRIPTS”?

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  erouting
  August 27th, 2022
  

  If you blame soldiers for a war your understanding of the level of political power wielded by the average 18 year old draftee is highly flawed.

  Vietnam vets, in the main, either didn’t want to be there, or were there out of a sense of civic duty and a misplaced trust in US political leaders. The blame for the things that happened in Vietnam lies exclusively with the politicians who orchestrated the war, not with the soldiers who fought it.

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  caesar963
  August 27th, 2022
  

  

  I’m a big fan of Ken Burns, so I’ll have to listen with the requisite gritted teeth.

  The strategy was largely based on the failure of appeasement prior to the Second World War. Toxic ideologies had to be confronted lest they strengthen & expand.

  Best to stay out of it, and let them collapse & fail on their own time. However, the problem with that is that such ideologies prove genocidal in all instances.

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  Acanthrohu
  August 28th, 2022
  

  

  erouting - so true. Just as it is today with Russian soldiers invading the Ukraine. Even if they are not conscripts, they most likely joined the military for a stable income and or were indoctrinated by the governments propaganda about how great it can be for you to be part of a team, comradeship, pushing you to the limits, teaching you skills that will set you up for civilian life in well paying careers. (I taught a guy who had joined the military and learnt to be a specialist radio communications operator. He couldn’t find a job on civi street so went back to school.)

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  Acanthrohu
  August 28th, 2022
  

  

  Why did the British succeed in stopping the communists in Malaysia. Did they use a different strategy? If so, could the British strategy have been used in Vietnam and elsewhere. Or was Malaysia a totally different situation and not comparable to Vietnam or other places?

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  rivatej428
  August 28th, 2022
  

  I remember watching Burns’ seminal series on The Civil War back when I was in school. Before it was apparent that he was a leftist fool.

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  apnea
  August 28th, 2022
  

  

  There were more volunteers per captia than WW2 plus 30-40 thousand Canadian kids/young men who volunteered. Canada had many fierce anti communists and showed it.
  I bet none of you know.

  “Canada’s participation in the Vietnam war is not well documented.

  Although Canada was “officially non-belligerent” in the war, the Canadian government helped the U.S. by sending medical equipment, weapons-making material, and technical assistance.

  But it is the war efforts of tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers who joined the U.S. military forces that had a more profound effect on Ray Heimes. The 69-year-old Prince George resident and U.S. Army veteran witnessed firsthand the bravery of Canadian-born soldiers who fought alongside him while he served more than three years of combat duty in the 10-year war.

  “People think it was an American war, but it wasn’t,” said Heimes, a native of Detroit. “There were 13 countries involved [helping the U.S.] and there were at least 40,000 Canadians in Vietnam.”

  https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/canada-played-active-role-in-vietnam-war-3690709

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  apnea
  August 28th, 2022
  

  

  There were more US volunteers per captia than WW2 plus 30-40 thousand Canadian kids/young men who volunteered. Canada had many fierce anti communists and showed it.
  I bet none of you know.

  “Canada’s participation in the Vietnam war is not well documented.

  Although Canada was “officially non-belligerent” in the war, the Canadian government helped the U.S. by sending medical equipment, weapons-making material, and technical assistance.

  But it is the war efforts of tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers who joined the U.S. military forces that had a more profound effect on Ray Heimes. The 69-year-old Prince George resident and U.S. Army veteran witnessed firsthand the bravery of Canadian-born soldiers who fought alongside him while he served more than three years of combat duty in the 10-year war.

  “People think it was an American war, but it wasn’t,” said Heimes, a native of Detroit. “There were 13 countries involved [helping the U.S.] and there were at least 40,000 Canadians in Vietnam.”

  https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/canada-played-active-role-in-vietnam-war-3690709

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  caesar963
  August 28th, 2022
  

  You’re not trying to attribute the loss to the involvement of Canucks? We get that you’re a proud ‘Merican, but…

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  dchant
  August 28th, 2022
  

  

  Thank you

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  tenbenson
  August 29th, 2022
  

  Nice bit of revisionism. You lost, get over it.

  Vietnam is a beautiful and largely successful (communist) country today. And the population are generally extremely friendly to the vets who visit.

  That’s because they are gracious in victory. Something the US could learn a lot about.

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross
• 
  caesar963
  August 29th, 2022
  

  The Vietnamese people did not deserve the evils of imperialism, communism or socialist oppression. That oppression remains, particularly relating to the absence of democratic freedoms (”a one-party socialist republic”), human rights & a free press.

  However, even though The Party asserts its adherence to Marxist-Leninism, the country has been increasingly adopting market economics since its necessary readmission of private enterprise during the early 1980s. This has led The Economist to describe the CPV as “ardently capitalist communists.” To be remotely successful, it’s necessary to go with what works. Vietnam sold many of its remaining state-owned companies in the early 2000s.
  Of course, this ideological failure & subsequent abandonment offers the greatest lesson.

  But the ideological oppression continues.
  On the World Press Freedom Index (2022 edition), Vietnam ranks egregiously low: 174th out of 180.

  Human rights in Vietnam are among the poorest in the world, as considered by international academics, dissidents & non-governmental organizations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, & the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

  As Human Rights Watch notes, Vietnam’s human rights record remains “dire in all areas” - the Communist Party maintains a monopoly on political power, and allows no challenge to its leadership. Basic rights, including freedom of speech, opinion, press, association, & religion, are restricted.

  A Review & Rebuttal of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" - George Ross

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