This is taking a bit longer than originally planned. I’m almost at the half way point of the Pentagon Papers’ 7,000+ pages. My somewhat stale blog is always due to life getting in the way …. but I became stalled around page 1,009 (volume 4: B-3) which addressed the Gulf of Tonkin shortly after the assassination of Presidents Ngo Dihn Diem and John Kennedy.
As I approach page 3,500 and reading about actions 40 years ago, I cannot convey how sad this is for America. The loss of life in a war against communism (today we can realize) was doomed from the beginning. Consistently ignored by Washington and every President from FDR to Nixon lied through their teeth to protect US interests during the Cold War.
Interesting to look at the title “US – Vietnam relations 1945 – 1967” clearly the early volumes indicate before the end of World War II the US sent money and arms to the Viet Minh — yes the Viet Minh.
In 1960 the Viet Minh changed their name to the National Liberation Front (NLF) aka Viet Cong. So FDR and the US gave money and arms to Ho Chí Minh for one year…however we reversed course, backed the South Vietnamese and welcomed the quagmire that cost 53,000 American lives. I hope to be done in January 2012.