Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
Well, for one, Vietnam was never about the US or China, it was about Vietnam getting to a self-determined, legitimate system of governance free from outside manipulation of any sort. They did not want France, nor did they want China, US or Russia. Quests for liberty often make for strange bedfellows, and the conflicts are always the end of the beginning, rather than the beginning of the end.
I tried to resist the temptation, but I am weak, so I just can't let this statement go by.

You do remember reading about all the Vietnamese, millions of 'em, who were anti-communist, who thought that a communist government was not a self-determined legitimate system. And you do remember that they fought pretty hard to prevent the communists from taking over. And you do remember that they lost and the communists took over by violent force, tanks, artillery and all that. You do remember that don't you? With all that in mind, your use of the phrase "Quests for liberty" in the paragraph quoted is rhetorical perversity.