Inuyasha
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I served in that conflict and I was presented by my commanding officer with a view few have ever really considered. He ws a man that i still respect to this day and saved our bacon more than once. Before I begin and by way of introduction I need to mention a few points. I am not speaking emotionately nor am I attempting to judge the morality ot the immorality of the situation. Put yourself as closely as possible to the times of which I speak (hindsight is always 20/20) and what the world was thinking. I am speaking of tactics and strategy more than anything else. If possiblerefer to a map of the reagion, I mean not just Cochin China but Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia and the whole area.
At that time the problem was communism vs capitalism and our way of life. The purpose of the war was to stop the advance of communism in that area (ie: the domino theory. Quite valid at the time). French Indo China or Cochin China was the best place to start. It was economically and industrially far behind both Malaya, who was having problems with insurgency, believed to be being supplied through Laos and Viet Nam, and Thailand that was also far ahead of it neighbors in development. French Indochina on the other had was just a vast swath of useless jungle and rice paddies in dire poverty and ripe (we thoiught) for rebellion and entrance into the "Western World". Here our intel could have been a bit better but we wouldn't know that till the conflict was in full swing. All in all it was the most ideal spot to begin.
What need to be protected (aside from the two countries I have mentioned) was the port of Singapore shades of WWII and Japan). If you look at you map you will see that Singapore holds the keys to the Straits of Malacca which is the Panama Canal of the orient. All goods coming from the Gulf and the Western world must pass through those straits. They are very narrrow with Malaya on one side and the Indonesian Islands on the other. If the communists were to take Malaya and Singapore it would be just a short hop accross the straits to conquer Indonesia and control all shipping going into the Pacific Rim including that going to the American West Coast. This means they would control a substaial degree of the economies of Japan and the Phillipines and other Pacific nations as well. We could not afford to have that happen. NOt to mention that both Indonesia and Brunei (Dutch Shell Oil's beginnings anyone?) are oil rich areas that would have provided fuel to the communist war machine (Japan WWII again). It would also put them in extremely close stricking distance of the Asian "Western" nation and the West's most trusted ally in the region of Australia. The argument that we could, in the worst case senario, rechannel shipping to the south of Indonesia and north of Australia. This idea is flawed because first, the cost would have tripled the oil and goods coming into the Pacific. Second, those waters are very dangerous to shipping and unusaable for the most part not to mention the pirates in the area who still hold a lot of power off those Islands in the south.
Continued........
At that time the problem was communism vs capitalism and our way of life. The purpose of the war was to stop the advance of communism in that area (ie: the domino theory. Quite valid at the time). French Indo China or Cochin China was the best place to start. It was economically and industrially far behind both Malaya, who was having problems with insurgency, believed to be being supplied through Laos and Viet Nam, and Thailand that was also far ahead of it neighbors in development. French Indochina on the other had was just a vast swath of useless jungle and rice paddies in dire poverty and ripe (we thoiught) for rebellion and entrance into the "Western World". Here our intel could have been a bit better but we wouldn't know that till the conflict was in full swing. All in all it was the most ideal spot to begin.
What need to be protected (aside from the two countries I have mentioned) was the port of Singapore shades of WWII and Japan). If you look at you map you will see that Singapore holds the keys to the Straits of Malacca which is the Panama Canal of the orient. All goods coming from the Gulf and the Western world must pass through those straits. They are very narrrow with Malaya on one side and the Indonesian Islands on the other. If the communists were to take Malaya and Singapore it would be just a short hop accross the straits to conquer Indonesia and control all shipping going into the Pacific Rim including that going to the American West Coast. This means they would control a substaial degree of the economies of Japan and the Phillipines and other Pacific nations as well. We could not afford to have that happen. NOt to mention that both Indonesia and Brunei (Dutch Shell Oil's beginnings anyone?) are oil rich areas that would have provided fuel to the communist war machine (Japan WWII again). It would also put them in extremely close stricking distance of the Asian "Western" nation and the West's most trusted ally in the region of Australia. The argument that we could, in the worst case senario, rechannel shipping to the south of Indonesia and north of Australia. This idea is flawed because first, the cost would have tripled the oil and goods coming into the Pacific. Second, those waters are very dangerous to shipping and unusaable for the most part not to mention the pirates in the area who still hold a lot of power off those Islands in the south.
Continued........