 Re: Damo, What are your thoughts on the Tonkin Gulf ?
Tell you the truth, I don't thnk much about it.
I believe what happened was some Nrth Vietnamese gun boats attacked an
american vessal and the Tonkin Gulf resolution was passed which allowed
the bombing of the north.
It was...I think....
my thoughts on it may be trueor false as you noted...
It was basically simpy izing up the situation as it was. The north
likely had its army in the south at that time and certainly was arming
and supporting Charlie Cong with logistical support.
The general feeling wa the bombing was stupid because our flies were not
allowed to blow up the rice dikes.
The rice was a major support for sppling the Ho Chi Ming trail.
That was the "highway" through which gooks on Bkes carried supplies,
mortars and ammo, and rice, used that went all the way south to the
Mekong Delta.
The Mekong river is exceptional a far as rivers go. Its head waters
start in Tibet.
Imagine? Very long river.
We were fighting the north anyway, so why not bomb em a little?
Unfortunatey, I have come to understand that we were fighting under the
wrong pretenses. I ws an outspoken critic of the war when I returned.
The former peace treaty said that there would be a vote for unification.
When the French got spanked there years before, trying to reclaim their
colony after world war two, he former French Indo China..
Becaus they ALL loved Ho Chi Ming , Uncle Ho, the vote was for
reunfication and being the north was communist and the south capitlist
runification meant the south was being voted into a communsm all the
money people said "no" to it.
Lots of the fighting was over whooze medical teams ot to treat the
villagers.
Really. Wkooze medics got to help the people.
Imagine?
So after we showed up the reclaiming of the coutryside, whch was ignored
by the money people , became the issue , the bone of contention. Whooze
people are they, that was the question.
I'm afraid to say it but the were Uncle Ho's people. Communism or
capitalism meant nothing to the folks in the country side.
Thats my true or false opinion.
I also think the North was stupid in attacking an american man-of-war
vessal.
Those AK-47s were russian models but they were made in Red China. Why
didn't we bomb Red China?
I think..we mis-spoke and made a mess.
I do want to go on now and give my opinions about Iraq but I hate
reading long e-mails. So I'll stop here.
This one clear and simple fact, you can intervene in a civil war. This
is a clear historical fact, we do it all the time in central america for
instance. but you can't do it for long because young kids are growing up
and they see only foreigners killing their own people, no matter what
side.
Damo
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