Scheer’s History Lesson Gets Poor Marks

Robert Scheer, in his May 3 commentary, “Our Loss Was Our Gain In Vietnam,” asks “if it turns out we can get along just fine with a communist Vietnam, why did we once upon a time try to bomb it ‘back to the Stone Age?’ ” He goes on to discuss the domino theory, but I think he misses the real answer.

We were very confident in the superiority of our system, and thought that we could “bring” it to other countries by force. We were not confident enough in our system to let it flourish without force. We inserted our young men into the bitter civil war that had torn Vietnam apart.

Until we took our heroic soldiers out of Vietnam, the war itself prevented capitalism or democracy from winning over many converts.

Eventually, a united Vietnam turned to capitalism, because it’s the best method to expand prosperity. Democracy will grow, as Vietnam creates a stable middle class.

If we had allowed the civil war that divided Vietnam to end without our intervention, we would have spared over a million lives, and brought capitalistic prosperity to the country far sooner. We did not have that kind of faith in our system.

Apparently, we still don’t.

John Taylor

La Habra

*

Scheer in his revision of history almost makes me teary-eyed for the good old days of Stalin, Mao and other communist despots.

The occupation that Scheer refers to in Eastern Europe was called the “spheres of influence,” agreed to by the [Allied] leaders at Potsdam.

The diverse actions by the West and the communists regarding this arrangement says it all. We had the Marshall Plan, they had fences, dogs and armed troops to shoot those who fled. Theirs was an occupation, ours a partnership to rebuild.

Now after 50 years of standing our ground, the communists that are left have leaned toward the capitalist economic model but the political and human rights side of their policies are still lacking. I don’t hear any talk of free elections in Vietnam or China. Are we now measuring success in economic terms only?

Jake Clark

Redondo Beach