Blinded by six myths of the Viet Nam War

A quite good article about the socio/politico effects of the Viet Nam War in present day Australia.
A bit long, but well done.

[quote] Blinded by six myths
Greg Sheridan, April 30, 2005

THE Australians were the best performing allied troops in Vietnam, though they got, then and now,
precious little recognition for it.

The Australians were less brutal than the South Koreans, less profligate with casualties, and
more disciplined, than the Americans. Though their number was small, the Diggers did their job well.
But the war’s growing unpopularity in the 1970s meant that they were never honoured as they should have been,
at least not until the mid-'80s.

Still, of late our Vietnam veterans have risen very high. Tim Fischer was deputy prime minister,
Peter Cosgrove is Chief of the Defence Force, soon to retire, and Michael Jeffrey is
Governor-General. All of them served in Vietnam.
-(excert)-

Myth one is that Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist rather than a communist.

Myth two is that South Vietnam could never have won.

Myth three is that the communists enjoyed majority support in the south.

Myth four is that the Vietnamese communists were not Stalinists.

Myth five is that the Australian or US Left actually cared two hoots for the human rights of Vietnamese.

Myth six is that an early communist victory would have had no adverse strategic consequences.b[/b]
theaustralian.news.com.au/co … 37,00.html[/quote]

Please read the article before you post comments about it. Thanks.