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Originally Posted by Fear-And-Loathing
I've been studying this quite alot recently and I have come to the conclusion that the Vietnam war signified the beginning of another 'power' bloc within the US that is, one that equals if not surpasses the power of government. I would argue that the new 'Pillar' which arose from Vietnam and continues to dominate American life is of course, the Media.
During the Vietnam war, because many news companies did not approve and wanted to gain ratings they LIED about what was actually happening. This painted a very gloomy picture of what was happening on the ground which turned public opinion against the war and forced our withdrawal. However, when looking at the evidence in key battles such as Khe Sanh, Hue and many others the Media deliberately lied about what was happening and missed out news which would've increased support for the war, such as the massacres at Hue and the resounding failure on the Viet Congs part during the Tet offensive.
This hangover from Vietnam, that is the Media's control over the American population is incredible. The power of the Media is so strong now that our leaders have to lie to us about the real reasons for going to war. This is the legacy of Vietnam.
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I have to say, I appreciate you studying this part of our American history, as I served a one year tour of duty in Vietnam, and what I read from the media when I was there, was most of the time BS. My parents subscribed for me a one year of the LA Times, and I can tell you, "if it bleeds it reads".
My ultimate gratitude that I derived from that terrible war, was emersion of 10's of thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians, that get to now experience the greatness of our society here in the United States, and I know that they aren't of the opinion that the United States is some kind of evil conquering empire, they are very grateful to be here.
The sadness that I see now, is the media portrays America's war on terror in Iraq and elsewhere in the same scathing light, as evil conquerers, and there are millions that buy into it.