There’s a fascinating article in BBC News that describes how Richard Nixon deliberately and clandestinely sabotaged the peace talks that were about to produce a halt to the bombing in the war in Vietnam. One of Nixon’s senior campaign advisors convinced the South Vietnamese to pull out of the peace talks, promising them a better deal when Nixon got elected. Nixon then campaigned on the result, saying that the Democrats couldn’t even get the South Vietnamese to the negotiating table.
A quick search shows few, if any mentions of this in the US media. Not only is the BBC reporting this, but they did the original research that uncovered this plot back in 1994. Unfortunately, the proof only just became available now that the LBJ library has released the final batch of transcripts from the Johnson administration.
The BBC doesn’t mince words, describing Nixon’s actions as “treason”. Indeed, after Nixon was elected (by a less-than 1% margin) he escalated the war into Laos and Cambodia, leading to the loss of an additional 22,000 American lives and the destruction of the South Vietnamese government, to whom he had promised a “better deal”.
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I knew Nixon was evil but this puts him in the same league as Dick Cheney.
Bush and Cheney are still alive and need to be tried as war criminals. Maybe Kissinger should be tried as well.
As I have said before, On the day Bush left on his helicoptor, I wrote the UN (they don’t have e-mail)to prosecute Bush/Cheney/Romsfeld/Rove. Needless to say I would support defunding the UN who sits and does nothing.
As always its the civilians who pay the price, namely the Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodians. A brutal and violent North Vietnamese government was able to take over where corrupt, brutal and violent South Vietnamese and American governments failed.
Saigon was a military puppet dictatorship of the US who’s leader was routinely replaced through coups and assassinations whenever Washington thought South Vietnam wasn’t obeying.
Expanding the war into Laos also permanently displaced most of the Hmong tribe whose leadership fatefully allied with the CIA and when the US pulled out of SE Asia the communists were quick to pay retribution on their enemies.
Treason.. Torture.. Lying… Voter suppression.. All forgiven, but get one little blowjob in the oval office and suddenly its impeachment time. Something is really wrong here.
The whole thing is surreal and unbelievable. The in power party wiretapping the opposition, the opposition trying to covertly supplant the ruling party. I tell you, hollywood couldn’t make this stuff up. And yes, meanwhile the people are used like pawns in a power struggle. What a great freakin story. Ultimate power corrupts ultimately.
But, before I get too negative, I do know there are good people in government that really do care about the people. I just need some help finding them.
At least one of them is now retired (me). I know many others who believed the term “public service” really meant just that. We took/take our responsibilities seriously and did our jobs to the best of our abilities, just as I’m sure PSgt does.
Least we forget, Jimmy Carter’s peace deal was also sabotaged in the same way so the Republicans could get Ronald (Iran contra, invade Grenada) Reagan elected. The October Surprise.
“Ex-President Jimmy Carter tells an interviewer that he isn’t sure what to believe about the longstanding suspicions that Republicans went behind his back in 1980 to stop him from freeing 52 American hostages in Iran, a failure that contributed to his political demise. But Robert Parry reports that there is a wealth of historical evidence.” More here: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/05/12/jimmy-carters-october-surprise-doubts/
Not to mention the October Surprise the Bush administration gave Obama by ignoring the financial bubble and bank fraud until after Obama was elected, and then overnight moving trillions of dollars into the banks and brokerage houses like Goldman Sacks, to bail out the people who had already robbed the banks and treasury from the inside leaving nothing standing but the empty skeleton walls of the banks. And as a by product of the theft, left Obama with no real funds to operate the nation.
“I do know there are good people in government that really do care about the people. I just need some help finding them.”
They’re pretty easy to spot, because they’re the ones getting laid off due to the sequester.
IL-8=Love it. I thought that Monica was much ado about nothing and have been crying since March 2003 about the innocents in Iraq.
One last rant in case anyone is still following this post, although implied and not said, let me state that the vast majority of the foul and despicable behavior comes from the right. Most often from the established republican party. Period. There is no equivalency. I know someone is going to get out there and say ‘both sides do it’, well, no actually the vast majority of it comes from one side only.
To say both sides do it is about the same as saying ‘both sides had forced camps during WWII’. One side used them to trample on the civil rights of a couple of hundred thousand people to hold an imagined threat away from population centers. The other used them to murder 12 million people. Although the statement is true, the crime is not the same.
Well said, IL-08. I’m not sure that I agree that most comes from the GOP establishment, though. I think the establishment is willing to capitalize on the extreme talk/behavior/stances, but I’m not sure they would go there willingly. I could be wrong, though.
Well said IL-08. GOPer’s are the party of reviling hatred and the DEMs are the party of lyerly cowards. A plauge on both of their houses.