I was once accused of being “disrespectful to the troops” for taking a photo of my bike in front of the Westfield, New Jersey Vietnam Memorial. But I ask you this. Isn’t it disrespectful to humanity to build a memorial to the American soldiers who served in that genocidal war, and not to the Vietnamese civilians who were its victims?
It’s a funny thing about war, Stan. I have “Einstein on Peace” a book from 1960 which collects 700 pages of Einstein’s efforts towards peace, starting in 1914. I just got a book about Reinhold Niebuhr, who also tried pacifism, and changed his mind a few times. It’s wonderful to meditate on Peace, but it gets difficult when the heathens attack your ashram. What then? Obama is in Japan and Hiroshima is getting mention. I think the only answer is to know that human beings are depraved monsters and Watch Out! There comes one now! Ya’ wanna’ fight over where to go to escape?
Well in the case of Vietnam, the United States government could have simply supported their independence in 1945 when Ho Chi Minh wrote a declaration of independence based on THE Declaration of Independence.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5139/
Sadly “we” decided to pledge support for the French in their misguided attempt to recover their empire.