Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Red Terror: The tragic consequences of Leftist ideology

 The Red Terror: The tragic consequences of Leftist ideology


On April 13, 1975, on the eve of the fall of Cambodia and 17 days from the fall of South Vietnam on April 30, New York Times columnist Sydney Schanberg posted an article headlined “Indochina Without Americans: For Most a Better Life.”

The author’s point—typical of liberal journalists during the Vietnam conflict and since—was that because of the possibility of civilian casualties from American bombing, most Cambodians would be better off under Communism.

But although there were occasionally some collateral casualties connected to American bombing in Cambodia, American bombers were bombing Khmer Rouge forces trying to overthrow the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, not Cambodian villages. In fact, U.S. policy emphatically stressed that the risk of collateral civilian casualties should be minimized. My own combat experiences in Southeast Asia confirmed that this policy was often stated and strictly enforced.

More @ The Tribune

4 comments:

  1. Seems to be a sad day for democracy in Vietnam but I don't
    know all the details.
    Brock, thought you might be interested:
    https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/six-vietnamese-activists-sentenced-for-subversion-in-hanoi-trial-04052018164200.html

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    Replies
    1. Thanks and at least the following is encouraging: .......more and more people are still willing to challenge the authorities, so this tactic of the government isn’t working to stop people calling for democracy,” he said.

      https://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2018/04/six-vietnamese-activists-sentenced-for.html

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  2. A student walked out without saying a word peacefully put up his sign which said “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” he was escorted off the property by the principal and threatened to be put into a police car.
    That's our democracy. I actually thought Vietnam had more
    freedoms then is being displayed. What is their gov afraid
    of??? that they might have independent thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that they might have independent thoughts.

      Just like ours.

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