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The US was an apartheid ethnostate so it's probably not that surprising that it sided with French colonists to restore their property rights as a matter of prin

The US was an apartheid ethnostate so it's probably not that surprising that it sided with French colonists to restore their property rights as a matter of principle rather than pragmatic, geo-strategic consideration. Also, if you consider the Chinese response to these wars where the US was restoring the colonial system in a recently liberated Asia after the fall of Japan, it had desirable outcomes. China stifled it's economic growth by moving it's economic/industrial base deep into it's interior[0], since it felt that the cities on the coast were vulnerable to naval attacks, and areas near the borders of korea and vietnam would be vulnerable to US ground attack. This probably set back the Chinese economy severely, for decades. Edit: And, of course, you could argue that "kill them all" would be a successful dissuasion to prevent other states from declaring independence. eg. Indonesia and Philipines. Though I guess the effect on them was probably mixed(?) You have to consider that Korea is still partitioned, and South Korea is still a vassal state and military outpost of the US. Although the US was unable to achieve that outcome in Vietnam, it was not an unreasonable goal at the outset. [0]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Front_(China) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Front_(China)

thematrixturtle 5y ago
Wait what? Indonesia and the Philippines both became independent immediately after WW2, long before the Vietnam War. The "domino theory" was definitely in play, but that was about fear of Communist takeover in already-independent countries.
- scaramanga 5y ago
  Only if you believe that the domestic population are a foreign entity who commit an "internal aggression" when they fight against a foreign armed and supported military dictatorship simply by dint of being "communist" (even when they are not). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos Another interpretation is that that is a tired old canard which maintains a life-beyond-death as a necessary illusion which assists the beholder in doing their patriotic duty: maintaining a positive view of the foreign policy of their own nation. Edit: but yes, my original response was sloppily worded. I didn't mean "declare independence", but rather, "actually achieve independence", my bad.

thematrixturtle 5y ago

Wait what? Indonesia and the Philippines both became independent immediately after WW2, long before the Vietnam War. The "domino theory" was definitely in play, but that was about fear of Communist takeover in already-independent countries.

scaramanga 5y ago
Only if you believe that the domestic population are a foreign entity who commit an "internal aggression" when they fight against a foreign armed and supported military dictatorship simply by dint of being "communist" (even when they are not). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos Another interpretation is that that is a tired old canard which maintains a life-beyond-death as a necessary illusion which assists the beholder in doing their patriotic duty: maintaining a positive view of the foreign policy of their own nation. Edit: but yes, my original response was sloppily worded. I didn't mean "declare independence", but rather, "actually achieve independence", my bad.