U.S. Military Defeated in Vietnam

Sociologist Bill Gibson was recorded in 1987 talking about his book on the Vietnam War (The Perfect War: Techno-War in Vietnam). In this video on YouTube, he touches on many interesting aspects of the war, like the myths and delusions of the U.S. military, its leaders and those of the American people. I watched all 10 parts, which is unusual for me. In Part 10, he accurately foretold that, since the delusions had not yet been shattered, the U.S. would again make wars it could not win.

These delusions that are a contributing factor to causing folly after folly are culturally rooted and historically-conditioned. There are reasons why Americans over-estimate the importance of technical gadgets of war, look upon other governments as inferior, look upon other peoples as inferior, do not understand foreign systems, separate the world into good guys (Americans) and bad guys (whoever doesn’t agree with Americans), refuse to face realities, think that wars can be run like production lines, focus on body counts, kills and statistics, view systems that are different as threats, and on and on.

Share

11:37 am on May 21, 2012