Vietnam, Iraq and the left

In his excellent essay, Dennis Prager calls the left "nothing" because of its addiction to aligning itself with whoever is fighting against America at the moment. He is right. Leftists very much believe in the notion that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this explains the reason leftists so cheerfully provide moral, intellectual cover to any anti-American forces. In the 1960's, it was the Viet Cong. Today, it is Islamic militants. We shall look at both conflicts, to see the chilling similarities in the leftist political, academic and media tactics which tried and tested in the 60's, are being recycled in the C21st. The leftists assault on America has been compared to a pair of scissors, with “pressure from the top” and “pressure from beneath” being brought together to cut into everything decent people hold dear and destroy it.

Vietnam and the leftist politicians; pressure from the top

In Vietnam, Communist killers were cycling in and out of South Vietnam from neighbouring countries, in one of the most important conflicts of the Cold War. America had begun sending help the besieged South Vietnamese government. The generals believed they had a solution to Communist insurgency; all out war against the Viet Cong and their bases, followed by an invasion of North Vietnam to clean up what was left of their forces. However, leftists in the American administration insanely bound the hands of their generals. They restricted the targets they were allowed to attack, restricted the number of troops they were allowed to have, and made sure there was a conveyor belt of inexperienced teenage conscripts doing the fighting, and not battle hardened veterans who were much better equipped to do the job. The result as history records was catastrophic; America found itself fighting a war using "politically correct" and "culturally sensitive" tactics that resulted in the deaths of nearly 60,000 Americans. Instead of the war the generals wanted which would have been over in 90 days, the war dragged on for years, causing millions of deaths more than was necessary.

The examples of this “pressure from the top” are numerous; highly ranked officials like Robert McNamara advised the administration to release the comparative death counts between the two sides, which did nothing but underline the loss of American lives and undermine public support for the war on communism.

The generals would later write at great length about just how badly their hands were tied by leftists in government. I would strongly urge you all to read this link, which details the shocking truth about just how seriously the generals ability to fight was compromised, and the shocking treason of leftists at every level of society.

The leftist media did not focus on the bravery of American troops; instead, it published lurid tales of their visits to Vietnamese prostitutes and published photographs of American soldiers smoking pot, in a clear attempt to smear brave American soldiers as nothing more than drug addicted, sex crazed moral lepers. Worse was to come, when American troops were cast as soulless genocidal automatons. The leftist media showed never ending coverage of the My Lai massacre by US forces, when between 300-500 people were killed. Yet the far left media, conveniently, did not report a massacre by Viet Cong troops in the city of Hue in January 1968, when nearly 3,000 unarmed civilians were butchered. The Viet Cong took the city, and after killing "class enemies" in kangaroo courts, set about killing those who were likely to be "counter revolutionary" whilst subjecting the other civilians to Marxist brainwashing and indoctrination. When it looked like the Viet Cong were going to loose control of the city of Hue, they massacred everyone who was left so there would be no witnesses. Even today, skeletons are often dug up in Hue, some with their hands still bound. The leftist media largely covered up this massacre, so as to protect the reputation the Viet Cong, with whom the American left was so clearly enamoured. American troops were also smeared as "baby killers" by the media, who never ceased publishing photographs of Vietnamese citizens caught in the cross fire. All of these things, casting American troops as sex and drug crazed genocidal maniacs went a long way to whipping up a climate of hatred and hostility towards returning American veterans, many of whom, even today, are not given the recognition they deserve for their brave fight in almost impossible circumstances.

Left wing media figures also jumped on the "lets line up with Americas enemies" band wagon. In 1968, Lt Corrigan of the USAF was being held as a prisoner of war in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton" jail camp, being kept in disgusting conditions. One morning he was woken up, shaved, washed and placed in clean clothing and told an "International Peace Activist" was visiting the camp. Imagine his surprise when none other than Hollywood actress Jane Fonda appeared. Far from showing concern for her fellow Americans, Fonda walked up and down their lines, sarcastically asking questions like "How does it feel to know you killed babies?" and "Aren't you so grateful to be receiving such generous treatment from your captors?". Many of the prisoners weighed less than half their pre-war weight due to starvation rations, yet Fonda clearly didn't care. Some American inmates handed her secret messages on small pieces of paper as they shook hands with her, believing she would take the messages back to America and give their families hope. To their horror, she simply handed them to the camp guards, and after she left the camp, the guards savagely beat the four men who had handed her messages, killing three and leaving another barely alive. It is because this man survived we know about this. Read more about this at this link.

Campus Revolutionaries; Pressure from the bottom

One of the most striking social developments of the Vietnam era was the co-ordinated “anti-war” activities across University campuses across America and for that matter the world. Activists would organise on campus, their anti-American and anti-freedom beliefs on display for all the world to see. Sometimes, they would triumphantly shout the name of Communist killer Ho Chi Minh; sometimes they would cover themselves in red paint and stage tasteless “die ins”. Sometimes they would burn American flags. All of these things were seen by the troops on TV, who were severely demoralised by them before they went on patrol.

Many black nationalist groups, strongly influenced and allied to the far left would circulate myths that black soldiers were being made to do disproportionate amounts of fighting. This further stirred up division and social strain. Many leftists would “drop out” of society in protest at the war, and burnt their call up papers to show their contempt for the military. Some leftists fled America and spent their college days getting drunk, smoking pot and bed hopping, whilst boys their own age were fighting and dying to keep them free.

Conclusion

Leftist always line up with the enemies of America, such is their all consuming desire to see it destroyed. In the C20th, they lined up with Communism, and spent 50 years defending this sick ideology. Leftist intellectuals preached what a wonderful system the communists had built, and urged American college students to embrace it. Leftist media stars travelled to the Communist bloc and returned with glowing appraisals. Leftist media bosses cast anti-Communist nations in the Third World as "fascist" and "authoritarian", isolating them from potential support in their fight for survival. Even as Communist forces developed small pox and anthrax, and pointed over 20,000 nuclear weapons at American cities, leftist "Peace Activists" told us to destroy our only means of defending ourselves against them under the name of "Nuclear Disarmament". Thank God that cooler heads prevailed. Even as Communist leaders like Khrushchev boomed that the USSR was "going to bury America", leftist told us all he wanted was peace on earth and good will toward men.

In this age of radical Islam, the left again lines itself up with an enemy of the West. When Islamic militants rammed planes into tower blocks on 9/11, leftist "academic" Ward Churchill compared the American victims to Nazi's, calling them "little Eichmanns" who deserved to die (link), whilst other leftists state their desire to see America suffer “1 million Mogadishus” (link) or urging American soldiers to kill their superior officers (link). When Islamic militants march through the streets chanting "Death to America" and burning American flags, leftists tell us that its all America's fault for supporting Israel. When Iran's Islamic militant president Ahmednijad calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map", and busily builds the nuclear weapons needed to do just that, we are told by leftists it is purely for "defensive" reasons to ward of "American pre-emptive aggression". Leftists tell Americans they cannot launch attacks on Islamic holy days lest it "offend" Muslims, yet doesn't raise a whisper against Islamic suicide bombers who target Bar Mitzvahs and Jewish Sabbaths. The left tells America not to do anything that could be interpreted as desecrating mosques, yet has nothing to say about the case in Indonesia two weeks ago where the severed heads of three Christian teenage girls were left on the doorstep of a church by the local Lashkar jihad militia. Whilst the left demanded America give Gitmo inmates a "culturally appropriate meal", Islamic militants torture and behead bound and gagged civilians in Iraq, with not much in the way of protest from the left.

In the 1960's, America had the military ability to defeat Vietnam; however, leftists on Capitol Hill used their influence to bind the hands of the generals, making winning the war almost impossible. Leftists in the media used their influence to poison the American people against their own soldiers, and shamelessly whipped up a frenzy of troop hating. They also focused endlessly on the casualties, slowly destroying American public will to fight on. These combined to hand victory to the Viet Cong, who have ever since ruled Vietnam with an iron fist. Today, history repeats itself; leftist politicians like Dick Durbin describe US troops as "Nazi's", and left wing play wright John Pilger has compared the US troops behaviour in Iraq to that of the Nazi's on the Eastern Front. The leftist media reminds us endlessly of Abu Ghraib, yet says almost nothing about the torture chambers of Saddams Iraq. Whilst the Palestinian Authority talk of Palestine "From the river to the sea", thus wiping out Israel, leftists urge Israel to treat the PA as "partners in peace". Left wing media figures used award ceremonies to attack George W Bush, and Michael Moore released a movie that was nothing more than a propaganda exercise aimed at portraying the US as corporate fascists obsessed with invading other countries to improve their share price. Meanwhile, far left “anti war” groups on campus like ANSWER goose step across campus for a flag burning encore.

Are we going to let history repeat itself, and allow leftists in high places and leftists at grass roots level act together to destroy freedom? Or are we going to stand up for our veterans and our values. I pick the latter. I have made my choice; it is time you make yours.