From: Guy Alcala

wrote: Were you claiming the deaths of
civilians, those of both our allies and our enemies, represented a great
triumph of
american arms, Ed?

I do not see where this was claimed. Do you have a specific line that asserts
this?

The US didn't
achieve its goals because we ultimately decided the cost was too high for any
benefit
we might get, i.e. we lost.


Not an unreasonable conclusion. OK.

You might even ask if they
are truly the great communist society that Marx envisioned, or if they
don't look a bit more like Adam Smith country.
Are you claiming that the war is what made that happen?
If so, how do you explain
the same thing happening in all the former communist states in Europe and
Asia,
including all the ones where we didn't kill several million of their people?

The European former communist states are not at all the "same thing" as Vietnam
today. I do not think this is a good conclusion. The economic status of these
European states is not solely or mostly based on tourism.

VL