"George Z. Bush" writes:

BTW, when Kissinger went to Paris to negotiate the end of the war, it
was hardly going to be a victory. In fact, what actually happened
was that we pulled out and left the South Vietnamese to continue the
fight on their own. I think they only lasted a couple of months
after our last troops left.

While a Dem personally, I'll point out a flaw in Z's description.
Ford was POTUS, and concluded he could not fly air support for RVN in
'75 because the Democratically controlled congress would not provide
funding for further involvement. Lack of US material and air support
were among the reasons for the RVN's collapse, but their own handling
and behaviour at Ban Me Thuot didn't help.

My opinion is that the country was not prepared to continue, so it
mattered little which party controlled Congress. I admit that is
conjecture.

The point is, Nixon slipped the US out by promising support he couldn't
really be sure would be provided if needed. It was needed, and it
wasn't provided. Thieu rightly believed at the time that he'd been
sold out for empty promises, but there was nothing he could do about it.

(Comparisons to Afghanistan and Iraq left as exercises.)

-dB

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represent those of Oracle Corporation."