Vietnam should teach us an important lesson. And the best way to accomplish that goal is by ending military aid now. It is ironic that we are here at a time just before Vietnam is about to be liberated.
History is an elusive chimera, shaped and recorded by the winning side.
Nowhere in recent times has this proved more true than in the periodic commemorations of the Vietnam War, as we are seeing once again with the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. All of these groups have a large stake in having the war remembered as both unnecessary and unwinnable. Simplistic, cartoonish mythologies accompany both the communist and antiwar versions of the war, no doubt bringing solace to those who were on the right side of its outcome. The communists paid a heavy price for this victory, and it is natural that they should continue to rejoice in it. What is not natural is that our own commentators, now provided with so much evidence to measure results, should abet the rewriting of history.