"Fighting a war they did not believe in, a war they were ashamed of"
A 52-Year-Old Letter Says Much About America's Failed Wars
A friend sent along an old Time magazine from May 8th, 1972, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed perusing. Back in the 1970s, I had a subscription to Time, but my old copies were long ago consigned to the trash. Anyhow, in reading the “Letters” section, I came across a stunning missive written by Oriana Fallaci, an Italian war correspondent who wrote for Europeo Magazine.
Here’s what Ms. Fallaci had to say about the U.S. war effort in Vietnam:
As an Italian, as a longtime war correspondent in Viet Nam, as the author of a book on the Viet Nam War, I have to answer the sort of judgment made by the unnamed Rand Corp. analyst who said that the South could hold out against the North Vietnamese “unless the North Vietnamese are all Prussians and the South Vietnamese are all Italians.”
I assume that he refers to the fact that the Italian soldiers fought with total lack of enthusiasm during the second World War and particularly in its last phase. Yes, indeed they did. They showed the same lack of enthusiasm that the American soldiers have shown in Viet Nam. Many times, while following your GIs in combat, I have had the impression that I was seeing Italians and not Americans. Do you know why? Because both those Italians and those Americans were fighting a war they did not believe in, a war they were ashamed of.
She nails it. When you realize the war you’re fighting is a dishonest one, an unnecessary one, even one that is shameful, you generally don’t fight well. It doesn’t matter what nationality you are.
When and what was the last war U.S. troops truly believed in, one that they weren’t entirely ashamed of? I think you’d have to go back to World War II, and of course even then more than a few U.S. troops had their doubts, as citizen-soldiers of a democracy are wont to have, because there’s no such thing as a “good” war.
Anyhow, note as well how the prediction of that Rand Corporation “expert” proved wrong. Instead of South Vietnam holding out against the north, it folded fairly quickly three years later in 1975. I guess its soldiers all fought like Italians and those of North Vietnam all fought like Prussians.
Waging war is a horrible thing—especially when the war one is called on to wage is false and shameful. Ms. Fallaci knew that.
This brings up two closely related things I know about myself.
The first is that I absolutely detest liars - especially those who lie to provoke, trigger, fund and/or maintain wars - whether direct or by proxy. (I'm thinking specifically of you, Messrs. Biden, Blinken, Ms. Nuland, and your partners in war crimes for the last decades.)
The second is that I really LOVE those truth-tellers who stick out like sore thumbs as they must always stand up against the flood of propaganda within their establishment order.
In the last few days there have been reports that some Ukranian troops are refusing to fight. They aren't deserting they just refuse to fight knowing they are outnumbered by Russians and will be killed. I wonder what this will lead to? And now that Zelensky is sort of no longer elected, what is going to happen there? Very curious times. Biden and co. will have a fun time sorting that out.. Kind of the opposite from 2014 and Maiden protests when we hired Azov members to shoot police and protestors to start the "revolution" we planned.