Should America Atomic Bomb China?

Dayton3 · Oct 13, 2020

(original)late said: ↑

Actually, FDR liberated a ton of colonies, right up until he died.

So we weren't trying to restore colonialism. State caved to France when they threatened to go Commie. We prob caved to some other countries, I don't remember the specifics, but it wasn't policy.

After the war, we had no idea what to do about Russia. George F Kennan came with the idea of a Cold War. Since it was the only halfway decent idea, we jumped on it. That included resisting Russian ambitions. Which mean serving as a counterweight. That became policy.
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Close enough to what I posted.

Dayton3 · Oct 13, 2020

Death said: ↑

see below and:

Yes say many, and I guess it depends on your historic time line. Some do not think the initial confrontations between the US and North Vietnam were the start of the war but the time when the French and Vietnamese started their conflict where again Ho Chi Minh initiated armed conflict with France to get out of Vietnam. Using that reference, some argue your analysis is correct but the Vietnam war with the US was a ear the US took over from France. Using that historic time line, no Westerners would argue the war started when France took over Vietnam.

Of course prior to that China invaded Vietnam and conquered it as well at one point and ironically China was never a friend of Vietnam until Mao Tse Tung felt North Vietnam was an essential proxy in fighting the West in Asia.

No one should be surprised today, China illegalhy invaded Vietnam and seized many of its oil fields and by doing so invaded Vietnam and has started yet another war this time with the Us siding with Vietnam against China and forming part of the on-going tensions in the South Pacific seas between Vietnam South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, the Philippines, North Korea, Australia, the US.

Asia and specifically the corridor with the great opium caravans that flow through Vietnam, Cambodia, Mynamar-Burma, Laos have always been unstable as has the Korean peninsula and all of the South China seas sector. Do you blame the West, Russia, China, all depends n your political biases and your take on who is a colonialist invader and an oppressed invaded nation.

China's expansion in the South Pacific is a response to Russia and Japan as much as it is the US. Its always felt the three have invaded on its zone of control. However China has gone much further than regional disputes with Japan and the Russians over specific islands but to the point now of trying to impose a right to access the coastal natural resources of all these nations ignoring international laws.

Having a nasty altercation in the South China seas is quite possible. There is a lot of naval fire power in that region and hair trigger tempers.
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Kind of reminds me of when my wife and I were watching an episode of MASH (which took place during the Korean War) and the news is being read over the PA system. One of the news items is that "The French government has announced their plans to bring a swift end to the Vietnam War".

My wife knew full well the Vietnam War (U.S. version) wasn't at the same time as the Korean War so she (not being a student of history) questioned me about it. I pointed out that the French war in Vietnam was more than a decade before what Americans call the Vietnam War. She asked me "How many wars have been fought in Vietnam?" I thought for a moment and came up with five or so. But I pointed out those were just in the last 100 years or so.

Aleksander Ulyanov · Oct 13, 2020

Dayton3 said: ↑

The U.S. felt it had to support the restoration of both French and British colonialism due to the sacrifices they made during World War Two. The U.S. also wanted those western European powers to serve as counterweights to the Soviet Union so the U.S. wouldn't have to as this was just about the last thing the U.S. wanted. To win the war but then inherit a huge set of obligations overseas.
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And they felt they had to help out the US and British business interests who had been merrily robbing the indigenous populations blind until the Japanese kicked them out in the late 30s and early WWII. Had the Japanese not been even greater robbers WWII might have went differently

We owed the French and British Colonials nothing, They hadn't helped us fight the Japanese, the indigenous people did that, and got the same reward you generally get for working long and hard in, or for, America.

https://cheezburger.com/7562537216/work-hard-for-what

Dayton3 · Oct 13, 2020

Aleksander Ulyanov said: ↑

And they felt they had to help out the US and British business interests who had been merrily robbing the indigenous populations blind until the Japanese kicked them out in the late 30s and early WWII. Had the Japanese not been even greater robbers WWII might have went differently

We owed the French and British Colonials nothing, They hadn't helped us fight the Japanese
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You forgot the sinking of the HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales.

Not to mention Field Marshal Slim and his forces fighting the Japanese in the Burma Campaign.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_campaign

Moriah · Oct 14, 2020

Dayton3 said: ↑

I teach history and I consider myself an expert on the Cold War. The idea that Ho Chi Minh was simply "minding his own business" is simply false. He and his communist government had been deliberately undermining the government of South Vietnam for years. Basically ever since the French withdrawal.
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You teach history and I am a student of history. When Vietnam was still ONE country they had an election to decide whether to divide the Country or stay together. They voted to stay together.
There were forces in the US govt that wanted to divide Vietnam, and they got their wish. I believe Allen Dulles was involved in this. Ho Chi Minh wanted what was best for his country and his people. The US wanted to destabilize the country.
And, the truly tragic part is that in the end, the US lost anyway. All that death and destruction for nothing. So sad.

Dayton3 · Oct 14, 2020

Moriah said: ↑

You teach history and I am a student of history. When Vietnam was still ONE country they had an election to decide whether to divide the Country or stay together. They voted to stay together.
There were forces in the US govt that wanted to divide Vietnam, and they got their wish. I believe Allen Dulles was involved in this. Ho Chi Minh wanted what was best for his country and his people. The US wanted to destabilize the country.
And, the truly tragic part is that in the end, the US lost anyway. All that death and destruction for nothing. So sad.
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Ho Chi Minh wasn't to install a communist dictatorship in Vietnam Regardless of the results of an election, communism is NEVER best for a country.

Elections are not the be all end all of a democratic country.

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Should America Atomic Bomb China?

Should America Atomic Bomb China?

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