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Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

rarehistoricalphotos.com

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Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#431

Post by Jenk »

dash2 wrote: post #422
cies wrote: 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.

> it defeated the USSR

Very arguably: no, it didn't.

The USSR defeated itself. It overspent and was rife with corruption. They don't call it "the collapse of the USSR" for no reason. It couldn't maintain its own weight and fell in on itself.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#432

Post by samus »

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #184

These are really neat. One photo has this caption: > Even using antiquated WWII rifles such as these, the Vietnamese were able to cripple or down many U.S. aircraft. Seems impossible? Allied aircraft were flying at least 5-10,000 ft, at least 300mph?

Dive-bombing (no clue whether that tactic was/is still in use) and strafing aircraft fly a lot lower when attacking ground targets. The danger is so great that ground-attack planes like the A-10 Thunderbolt are designed with survivability in mind and carry a lot of armor.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#434

Post by Croftengea »

Jenk wrote: post #431
dash2 wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> it defeated the USSR Very arguably: no, it didn't. The USSR defeated itself. It overspent and was rife with corruption. They don't call it "the collapse of the USSR" for no reason. It couldn't maintain its own weight and fell in on itself.

Yes, every empire collapses under its weight, sooner or later.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#436

Post by dragonwriter »

graycat wrote: post #435

some thoughts on the Viet Nam war.

A whole lot of excess words here, because the key point was here:

“The US […] supported the French return to Viet Nam.”

It was a US continuation of the reassertion of French imperialism, and as long as that imperialism continued, Hanoi wasn’t looking to roll over and avoid conflict, but to win it. Which, you know, they did.

The opportunity to avoid the war was for the US not to try to take over the failed French imperialist mission.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#437

Post by hansor »

marcodiego wrote: post #71

The photo https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StC-dVAdOns/YK081DEgPdI/AAAAAAAAd... is probably a captured M16 since, AFAIK, Vietnam used AK-47. What impressed me the most: "Using home-brewed chemicals, they developed their pictures in the open air or in underground tunnels" if by chemicals to develop photos in open air means no need for a dark room, that is really not something easy to do with then available technology. It is…

>Vietnam used AK-47.

This is common misconception. What you mean by "AK-47" is usually AKM rifle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKM

Secondly: SKS rifles were very popular as well in North Vietnam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKS

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#438

Post by bellyfullofbac »

sofixa wrote: post #397
marcodiego wrote: post #71

The photo https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StC-dVAdOns/YK081DEgPdI/AAAAAAAAd... is probably a captured M16 since, AFAIK, Vietnam used AK-47. What impressed me the most: "Using home-brewed chemicals, they developed their pictures in the open air or in underground tunnels" if by chemicals to develop photos in open air means no need for a dark room, that is really not something easy to do with then available technology. It is…

> How the US avoided international courts is something that should be better explained Might makes right, aka US foreign policy since its inception. The US has never recognised any court that could try them ( like the ICC) and have veto powers in the UN, so they can go about committing war crimes with impunity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiKFAwiKjBo

"'War crimes' are defined by the winners. I'm a winner, so I can make my own definition.".

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#439

Post by unishark »

Jenk wrote: post #415
CamperBob2 wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

~~False.~~ Their does not need to be a right side just because there is a, or even many, wrong. Everyone can be shitty. e: not false, I misread.

Wouldn't your view be in agreement with the poster? They aren't saying they personally believe there must be a right side but that the metaphor implies it.

Re: Vietnam War images from the North Vietnamese side

#440

Post by clydethefrog »

diragon wrote: post #430
fighterpilot wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Around 20 percent of their population got also killed during the war.

>Douglas visited Korea in the summer of 1952 and was stunned by the “misery, disease, pain and suffering, starvation” that had been “compounded” by air strikes. U.S. warplanes, having run out of military targets, had bombed farms, dams, factories, and hospitals. “I had seen the war-battered cities of Europe,” the Supreme Court justice confessed, “but I had not seen devastation until I had seen Korea.”

And instead of Marshall help they got global economic sanctions.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/03/why-do-north-koreans-hat...

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