Did South Vietnam deserve to be destroyed?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. They were a corrupt and repressive regime. They deserved what they got.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

They weren't really the aggressors if you take into account that Ho Chi Minh would've easily won a fair election and the US illegaly split Vietnam to stop that from happening.

I'm no fan of Ho Chi Minh, but he had much more of a claim to legitimacy than any South Vietnamese leader.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

North Vietnam was anti-American, but I don't support them. I don't support either side. Al summed them up well, and neither one deserved the loss of a single American life.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I was referring to dazzleman who said I'd support South Vietnam if they were anti-American. He claims leftists support dictators if they are anti-American, although that's a load of crap, leftists support dictators if they are leftist themselves. I've never heard a leftist praise Iran.

The bottom line is, both North and South Vietnam didn't deserve any support whatsoever from the US.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

false. There's no way you can say Castro's Cuba with it's health care and education system is the same deal as Pinochet's Chile. Now yes, that certainly doesn't excuse the abuses of the Castro regime, but it's moronic to say some leftists only defend Castro because he's anti-American.

What about the Seychelles? Up until very recentely they were ran by a leftist regime that was hardly brutal at all and not openly anti-American. It largely remained neutral in the Cold War, had exemplary social programs, and didn't commit human rights abuses. Basically the only reason it was a regime was the government refused to stand for fair elections until rather recentely. Oh, guess you're wrong that leftist regimes are more brutal and repressive.

Why do you think I belong to the anti-American left though? The far left, yes, but why anti-American? My policies toward Vietnam would've saved American lives, since all troops would've been pulled out and support would've ended. How is that anti-American?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Actually, one could say I judge pro-American regimes on a harsher scale, since those are the type of people I don't want to be associating with. It's kind of how parents might have higher standards for who they want their kids dating than kids they consider "good". The issue at hand is whether they deserve support.

And I've thought I established I didn't favor either side. I wanted a complete pullout from Vietnam, and a complete cut of aid to either side. That sounds pretty neutral to me.

You also didn't say anything about my point on the Seychelles. Would you say it's anti-American to favor the Seychelles regime over South Vietnam or Pinochet, when France Albert-Rene was hardly oppressive at all and was mostly only a dictator because he didn't allow free elections up until last year? Rene was hated by Apartheid-era South Africa who actually were behind a failed coup on him. Now would it be wrong to say Rene was better than the Apartheid SA regime?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If South Vietnam had won, would you have started a thread saying how great it was that the North Vietnamese regime was defeated?  I don't think so.  I haven't seen anything by you celebrating the death of the Soviet satellite regimes in Eastern Europe, even though that was a far more seminal event than the fall of Saigon.  You celebrate only US defeats, not victories.

no, but that goes without saying. Since the US didn't support Eastern bloc nations, it's not really neccesary to say you would be against support of them. But for what it's worth, I do recall a thread on DU where the question was "if you could tell Bush one thing what would be it?" and someone simply replied "Remeber Ceausescu!" I think it's safe to say this person was anti-Ceausescu and clearly not pro-Eastern bloc.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well since the person obviously doesn't like Bush, I doubt he'd compare him to someone he likes. Therefore it's safe to say he did not like Ceaucescu.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Here's something else to consider. Had South Vietnam won, Pol Pot probably would've remained in power a lot longer.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

But like I pointed out, had the North not taken over and wiped out Pol Pot, he would've remained in power much longer, and possibly taken over other areas as well. There could've been a genocide on the level of Hitler.

Really, unified Vietnam did a much more humanitarian accomplishment in destroying the Khmer Rouge than anything South Vietnam ever did.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Nixon didn't care about Pol Pot, he was an anti-Soviet communist, so according to the US there was nothing wrong with having him in power. Pol Pot actually would've never come to power if the US didn't fight the war, the region wouldn't have been destabalized to the level it was.

Even if that were to happen and Nixon were to invade, it would've meant more dead Americans. Pull all troops out, no more dead Americans, and Pol Pot is removed with no dead Americans.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

BRTD,

I remain in shock at your callousness towards the lives of non-Americans.

I probably wouldn't have quite so much had it not have been for the draft.