Reply #16: Let's Stay Straight Here...Kerry Didn't End The War... [View All]

[KharmaTrain]

His testimony helped speed up "Vietnamization"...turning the fighting over to the ARVN (snickers allowed). This led to the sending of thousands of troops who were earmarked for Nam to other locals or stateside...and reduced the number of ground forces from over 500,000 to 100,000 or so.

Nixon, in 1971, was no sooner going to end the Vietnam War than let some young punk like Kerry and the other Vietnam protestors make it appear he was caving into their, and popular demands. If anything he stuck out negotiating in faith with the North Vietnamese until right before the '72 elections, and then to use it for an October Surprise..."Peace Is At Hand".

Kerry and my anti-war brothers and sisters saved millions of lives. First, the thousands who came home in on piece rather than be faced with another tour in that stink pit. Second, by making it politically popular for Nixon to announce periodic troop reductions that spared the lives of thousands already in the service or about to be drafted. Thirdly, it sent into motion the evaluation of the power politicians had over the military and the lives of our children. It kept our forces from another morass for 30 years, until this band of hoodlums came along with their war for profit regime.

The war ended when the right wing...to embarassed by Watergate...looked the other way as Indo-China was over-run by the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge...and then blamed the "libruls" for this...rather than their own incompetence. Destroying this myth destroys a major pillar of the wingnut movement.