To get some idea of the truly catastrophic nature of this conflict and be able to put it all into some kind of historical perspective, it is only relatively recently we have been able to do this. Of course we have had Errol Morris' 2003 documentary Fog of War. This was a lengthy interview with one of the War's chief architects Robert McNamara, LBJ's Secretary of Defense throughout much of the early stages, and a man who later all but acknowledged the pretext for war was bogus. And there was the iconic Hearts and Minds by director Peter Davis, released in 1975.
There have been
several iconic films that showcased diverse perspectives of the conflict from Apocalypse Now, The Deerhunter, Full Metal Jacket, Casualties of War, and Platoon, to name a few. Few of
these films portray it as anything resembling -- to use Ronald Reagan's
memorable descriptor -- a noble cause, and most still provide a harrowing insight into the war's
reality.
Much also has been written about Vietnam to be sure; James Gibson's The Perfect War and Gabriel Kolko's Anatomy of a War are excellent starting points.
But for this writer's money, no understanding of the American 'Nam era comes complete without reference to Douglas Valentine's The Phoenix Program: America's Use of Terror in Vietnam, and Nick Turse's Kill Anything that Moves: The Real Story of America in Vietnam. These two wholly gripping narratives provide each in their own way gut-wrenching corroboration of the decidedly unofficial, behind the scenes barbarity, depravity, suffering and needless tragedy that characterised the War from go to woe, the latter word being operative.
For those who don't normally associate terms such as 'war crimes', 'mass murder', 'rape', 'atrocities', 'crimes against humanity', 'chemical warfare', 'terrorism', 'massacres', 'kidnapping', 'assassination' -- and even 'genocide' -- with the conduct of war by the US military and its agents/allies, these books will prove a viscerally disturbing eye-opener. For those looking for "context" and "perspective", you have come to the right place, although one hesitates to suggest the experience will be a satisfying, or indeed, comforting one, even less to suggest how folks might personally frame either response.
After noting that the U.S. from the beginning to the end, "relentlessly pounded South Vietnam with nearly every lethal technology in their arsenal short of nuclear weapons, indiscriminately spreading death across vast swaths of territory", he said:
"Such supercharged killing -- so often carried out from the relative safety of a jet flying thousands of feet above the ground, a helicopter gunship hovering over thatch-roofed huts, an artillery battery miles from the target zone, a ship lobbing shells from offshore -- undoubtedly saved the lives of some American soldiers. But the logic of overkill exacted an immense, almost unimaginable toll on Vietnamese civilians. U.S. commanders wasted ammunition like millionaires, hoarded American lives like misers -- and often treated Vietnamese lives as if they were worth nothing at all."
Almost four decades after America's final withdrawal from Vietnam, it is The Phoenix Program, and Kill Anything that Moves that uniquely catalogue -- albeit within different contexts and from different perspectives -- the depth and scope of a wholly new, mind numbingly horrific reality of war in general and this one in particular. They further reveal that a considerable amount of this carnage was carried out by US ground troops and special forces alike with the knowledge, approval and active encouragement of their superiors, who themselves exhibited an utterly amoral sense of detachment in the pursuit of the high body count and what eventually amounted to an elusive victory.
What happens in 'Nam, Stays in 'Nam
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