Should there have ever been any troops in Vietnam?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

no. We shouldn't never sent even one soldier. Period.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Then I don't see how anyone could possibly say McGovern was wrong. Because at that point, it was too late to do what you're describing.

McGovern is my biggest political hero, because even though his loss he woke up American to get out, and forced Nixon to end the draft. He's the greatest American of the second half of the 20th century. And he was more conservative than LBJ, one of my least favorites.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes, you can't award an aggressor. Ho Chi Mihn was an aggressor. To let him just take South Vietnam was giving a big fat reward to Communist, Anti-Americans, and giving a strong blow to free people throughout the world.

actually Ho Chi Minh would've won the elections and controlled both the North and South had they not been rigged.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAA, South Vietnam was a corrupt military dictatorship. Peaceful? And it was in a way rightfully his.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

why? I haven't supported any wars since WWII.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAA, South Vietnam was a corrupt military dictatorship. Peaceful? And it was in a way rightfully his.

No nation ever belongs to one man.  Leaders are there to serve their nation and not the other way around.

He didn't own it, but going by legal and fair elections he was the rightful ruler of all of Vietnam. He wasn't a nice guy but neither was the South.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

why? I haven't supported any wars since WWII.

You would have supported North Vietnam. You think that Che Guavara (a political thug) is a hero.
You are NOT a pacifist. You are degrading the word by saying that you are.

I believe that Ho Chi Minh should've been allowed to win the elections and not denied the presidency. Had this happened things would've far better for everyone in Vietnam, and most of the brutality that happened later would've not occured, nor would've the war's after effects spread to Cambodia, and perhaps the Khmer Rouge would've not have come to power. The Vietnam War simply made things worse for all of Indochina.

As for Guevara I don't know if it's different in the UK, but you'd have a tough time finding leftist kids without his T-shirts here. He is considered a hero throughout leftists in general. A poll at a Democrats only site I go to showed 90% voting for him as a hero. And I don't see why he'd be considered a thug, considering that Batista and the Bolivian government were also corrupt regimes.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

well I wouldn't take part in any US wars and would definately dodge the draft if it was still around.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And I wouldn't have fought in any conflicts for other countries either.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I did file but only because you need to to get federal aid for college loans. no person has been prosecuted for not signing up in forever, but there's that little deal. but i would still dodge through whatever means. probably a moot point though because: 1-there's not going to be another draft and 2-I have a bad back problem that would probably get me a defferment anyway

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And I wouldn't have fought in any conflicts for other countries either.

So, you'd allow millions of people to be purged, murdered, starved or tortured, becuase you feel it's wrong to support a war to prevent such attrocities. I suggest you take a very good look at yourself and re-evaluate your beliefs in marxism. Your own Lenin instituted collectivization in the USSR which served nothing more than to starved millions of Soviet citizens, including the kulaks, ukranians, white russians, Don Cossaks, etc. Stalin liquidated somewhere around 16 million soviet citizens in purges, famines, and gulags in Siberia. During Mao's great leap forward, a couple million died due to the fact that most of the farmers were sent to factories to build up China's industry while crops rotted in the fields and no new crops were planted. When people began to voice thier objections, Mao instituted the Cultural Revolution and purged China of it's intellectuals, pro-democracy advocates, and generals. It is not known how many millions of people were liquidated as part of the Cultural Revolution, but the number was certainly high.

I don't think I need to speak about Pol Pot, or North Korea. Or How the Soviet Union crushed pro-democracy advocates in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the 60's and 60's and then purged thier governments. I don't need to speak about 100,000 Polish officers murdered by the NKVD after Poland surrendered the USSR in 1939. I don't even need to speak about the fact that after WWII ended, Hundreds of Thousands of Soviet Soldier were sent to Gulags in Siberia, because Stalin thought that since they had a glimpse of the west they were prone to revolt.

To say that you would do nothing to alieviate the suffering of those who are oprressed is cowardism. I spit in your general direction.

I'm not a Stalinist or Maoist or any of that crap. Marx wasn't a dictator. If you think I favor any of the guys you're talking about then you have no clue what you're talking about.

I actually condmened the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. I said if it wasn't for the Vietnam War they probably wouldn't of gotten the support to come to power.

Sorry that I think sending unwilling kids to die in a hellhole isn't acceptable.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

if draftees aren't unwilling soldiers, what are they? What was Kerry then?

The Khmer Rouge got support to come to power through the expansion of the war into Cambodia.

and I agree with the concept of Marxism but not all ideals, and I certainly don't support human rights violations?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

but nothing like Stalin or Mao. Besides rightwingers think higher taxes on the rich are a human rights violation. Like I should have any sympathy for rich people.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't agree with Lenin either. Someone such as Salvadore Allende is a good example of my ideology.