I know this wasn’t really your point but I’m always surprised when I hear/read people say that we bombed Laos for no reason. I think the Vietnam war was absolutely terrible and based on a lie, so I’m not seeking to defend the war itself, but… have you just taken a look at the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and which countries it went through?[1]
I know this wasn’t really your point but I’m always surprised when I hear/read people say that we bombed Laos for no reason. I think the Vietnam war was absolutely terrible and based on a lie, so I’m not seeking to defend the war itself, but… have you just taken a look at the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and which countries it went through?[1]
Additionally, Laos was basically used like Pakistan was by the Taliban (well, except worse because the Vietnamese were trying to topple the government of Laos as well.)
At one point, the North Vietnamese actually came into Laos via the Ho Chi Minh trail to take out an airplane guidance system that we had placed there with the permission of the Laotian government. In this battle, the North Vietnamese killed 13 US Air Force members who were there to protect it (even though that force was clearly far too small for the task, Laos wouldn’t let the US place any more people there), which was “the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members during the Vietnam War.“ [2]
Do you disagree that those things are true? Why do you think it was “for basically no reason”?
I know this wasn’t really your point but I’m always surprised when I hear/read people say that we bombed Laos for no reason. I think the Vietnam war was absolutely terrible and based on a lie, so I’m not seeking to defend the war itself, but… have you just taken a look at the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and which countries it went through?[1]
Additionally, Laos was basically used like Pakistan was by the Taliban (well, except worse because the Vietnamese were trying to topple the government of Laos as well.)
At one point, the North Vietnamese actually came into Laos via the Ho Chi Minh trail to take out an airplane guidance system that we had placed there with the permission of the Laotian government. In this battle, the North Vietnamese killed 13 US Air Force members who were there to protect it (even though that force was clearly far too small for the task, Laos wouldn’t let the US place any more people there), which was “the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members during the Vietnam War.“ [2]
Do you disagree that those things are true? Why do you think it was “for basically no reason”?
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_trail#/media/File%3AHoCMT.png
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lima_Site_85