President Ford was in office when the North Vietnamese launched the final wave of attacks into South Vietnam. This was in violation of the Paris Peace Accords. When the North Vietnamese violated the accords, President Ford asked Congress for the authority to resume military operations. The Communists had violated the cease fire, broken the agreement and were not unifying in a peaceful manner. Congress said no. So the promise of the United States, the agreement made and ratified by the Congress was not upheld, in spirit or letter, by a subsequent Congress.
Congress was aware of the promises, and ignored them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords#Aftermath
So why is that a good thing? Honestly I've always been torn by this even in our history. On one hand I abhor the senseless brutality and violence of a war. On the other hand, I try to live up to my promises. If I say I will do something, even something distasteful I try to accomplish the task. That's probably why I refrain from ironclad commitments except in rare circumstances. I'm happy that the killing finally stopped. I'm ashamed that our nation behaved in a less than honorable manner in reaching that point.
The point is we as a nation through our leaders agreed to a certain course of action. We gave our words. We broke that word later. Yes, we were tired of war, but we were tired of war when we gave our promise.
Indian Treaties? Today's trivia question, is there a single treaty with the Native Americans that we did not violate?
How about the very first treaty. The Treaty with France we negated less than a decade after it was signed? By the 1800's it was pretty much liner in bird cages. Do I need to go on?
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