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Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

rarehistoricalphotos.com

421–430 of 624 posts

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> USA took Iranian independence Iran problems began with islamic revolution, and USA had nothing to do with it, no? > Afghanistan was better of before US took it Which conflict you are talking about? War in Afghanistan started almost 50 years ago. > now Taliban controls more territory then they did before US came in Yeah, the US need to finish what it started. I think Trump decision to withdraw troops from Afghanista…

> Iran problems began with islamic revolution, and USA had nothing to do with it, no? This is incorrect. In 1953, the United States overthrew the democratically elected PM and installed a dictator. The Islamic Revolution was a response to that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta...

It is oversimplistic to say the Islamic Revolution was a response to that, because the Shah was already gone when Khomeini returned from exile. Rather, the general Iranian Revolution (with its heavy involvement of Communists and other secular movements) was a response to the Shah's dictatorship, and then the subsequent Islamic Revolution was a taking advantage of the resultant power vacuum.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#422
post #398

The US is repeatedly on the wrong side of history. And they cannot even face that. Red scare. Supporting neo-liberal-to-fascist govts. Yelling democracy but then killing democratically chosen representatives when they do not "suit de US likings". Bitching about some "meddling" in their election when the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations. Giving "foreign aid" to apartheid regimes. U…

You failed to mention the times the US was on the right side of history. Most importantly, it defeated the USSR, which was, as Ronald Reagan correctly pointed out, an evil empire.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#424
post #422
post #398

The US is repeatedly on the wrong side of history. And they cannot even face that. Red scare. Supporting neo-liberal-to-fascist govts. Yelling democracy but then killing democratically chosen representatives when they do not "suit de US likings". Bitching about some "meddling" in their election when the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations. Giving "foreign aid" to apartheid regimes. U…

You failed to mention the times the US was on the right side of history. Most importantly, it defeated the USSR, which was, as Ronald Reagan correctly pointed out, an evil empire.

As a former East German, 90% of that "defeat" was done by the USSR (and the Eastern Bloc) itself, not the USA. Credit where it is due, since you insist.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#425
post #398

The US is repeatedly on the wrong side of history. And they cannot even face that. Red scare. Supporting neo-liberal-to-fascist govts. Yelling democracy but then killing democratically chosen representatives when they do not "suit de US likings". Bitching about some "meddling" in their election when the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations. Giving "foreign aid" to apartheid regimes. U…

A controversial assertion. If there's a "wrong side" of history, there must also be a "right side." Who do you consider to occupy that position?

Not a country or group, but individuals. The countless good people who work for what is right. Like Corrie Ten Boom who wrote The Hiding Place [1]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrie_ten_Boom

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#426
post #398

The US is repeatedly on the wrong side of history. And they cannot even face that. Red scare. Supporting neo-liberal-to-fascist govts. Yelling democracy but then killing democratically chosen representatives when they do not "suit de US likings". Bitching about some "meddling" in their election when the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations. Giving "foreign aid" to apartheid regimes. U…

"the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations"

There's an interesting book about this called Overthrow.[1]

[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Overthrow-Americas-Century-Regime-Cha...

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#427
>A guerrilla in the Mekong Delta paddles through a mangrove forest defoliated by Agent Orange. The Americans denuded the landscape with chemicals to deny cover to the Viet Cong

The official line, maybe, but untrue. Agent Orange was used to destroy crops. Its side effects and lasting effects are well known, but the focus on these are to the detriment of awareness about why the US used it. The indiscriminate destruction of food for combatants and innocents alike is genocide.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#428
post #133

The sourcing of these photos is terrible. Several are from before the US involvement, namely the Plain of Reeds photo which is from the French War in Indochina. Plus, many of these photos are staged propaganda photos, in particular the battle scenes. After an enemy surrendered, POWs would often be told to “recreate” the battle. Actually battle photographs from the north are blurry and a bit more chaotic.

I only see one other battle scene (NVA soldiers dash) aside from the Plain of Reeds photo.

The other photos are posed as well. The downed wreckage, the Ca Mau operating room in the swamp, the Lam Son 719 photo are well known photos that were staged. You can find similar photos from the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The French POWs were asked/made to recreate the final battle for photographers.

An Eastern Bloc country, I believe the USSR or East Germany, sent photo equipment and photographers to North Vietnam. They understood the propaganda value of these photos.

And don't get me wrong, these photos are very valuable in reinforcing morale and swaying international opinion. The West does it too. There was less staging of photos by the West back then as they tended to have more people taking photos of the action at the time.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#429
post #408
post #398

The US is repeatedly on the wrong side of history. And they cannot even face that. Red scare. Supporting neo-liberal-to-fascist govts. Yelling democracy but then killing democratically chosen representatives when they do not "suit de US likings". Bitching about some "meddling" in their election when the history is full of US meddling in democratic process of other nations. Giving "foreign aid" to apartheid regimes. U…

You should investigate CIA/NATO funded clandestine operations such us GLADIO involving terror attacks in Europe against civilians. AKA "strategy of tension". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_Due https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:J... >The August 2, 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station which killed 85 people, is widely recognized as a…

It's telling that mere links to factual information on Wikipedia can still garner downvotes on HN.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I think of the word "propaganda", the first two things that come to mind are the Nazis and the "fight against communism".

Because South Korea would be so much better off today had it fallen to Kim Il Sung rule...

Impossible to say definitely. North Korea military spending has been around 25% of its GDP, which is said to be one of the top reasons why its economy plateaud in the 70s. Would it have needed to be so high if they had annexed the whole peninsula, and would they had closed up like they did if they had decisively won the war? Perhaps not: Vietnam certainly did better.
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