But back to the original thread. The US by definition did lose Vietnam. But for 10 years it did stop Communism's spread. But as far as the Domino Theory goes, I think the willing show of force in Vietnam definately slowed the expansion of communism. It also pitted commy countries against one another after the war was over. Vietnam fought China, and also Laos or Cambodia after the US withdrawal.

One thing that we need to take into consideration is the fact that America never lost a major battle. Even Tet, which is vaunted as the turning point of the war, was a huge military disaster. The V.C. wasnt even considered an effective fighting force after 1968. America cut their own throats in Vietnam, much like we are doing today. I hate to say it, but a large part of the American Military where the ****ups that didnt get promotions after Korea. Also, this was the first time we fought a war with a completely professional military, people who actually had careers to ruin, and so cover your ass become much more a needed thing. If you want any insight into Vietnam, read Fields of Fire by James Webb and Soldier by Anthony Herbert. amazing books, both of them. But yes, the political situation lost the war for america.

Lundin, I couldn't agree with you more on Vietnam. After Tet, the North was decimated. Their combat power was eliminated almost wholesale. Unfortunatley that one sided liberal by the name of Walter Kronkite said "Vietnam was unwinnable." Im pretty sure it was Kronkite. But anyways, it was bs reporting back then that did us in. Our most important victory somehow was made to look like a defeat in the press. Kind of like Dan Rathers reporting today!

Ps.. The politicians sure as hell didn't help either.

Ummm, I heard they've been trying to rotate the party leadership in Vietnam for a while since it is mostly made up of oldtimers... is this true? Also, a few of my ****'s are made in vietnam.... if I could somehow put a tracer on my money, where would the various percentages of the money go? I wanna see how communal socialism works in a capitalistic world economy; where does my cash go when the US and Vietnam buys each other's products?

Winners: United States Military, NVA, Vietcong

Losers: United States Military, United States People, South Vietnam

Consequences: United States military morale was at an all time low lasting two decades up till Desert Storm, but we learned many essential lessons about warfare. The NVA were able to take control of all of Vietnam, hence their win. The United States people had to live with the fact that they had failed for the first time in the history of the United States, out aura of invincibility was gone. Oh yes, and the hippies caused us to lose the war, it was a political loss, not a military loss.

The VC were not victorious at all. When I was there any VC we found were actually North Vietnamese pretending to be home grown S. Vietnamese. By that time the Viet Cong did not exist. I fought North Vietnamese and Chinese troops. We captured Chinese officers. The U.S. never lost a major battle in all the time we were there. The North had its share of USSR supplied and piloted MIGs (including mig21 fishbeds) which were state of the art aircraft.
This war was much more than the U.S. fighting a peasant army. Just below the surface it was a war among the super powers of the day(U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. and China).

The Tet Offensive is touted as a great victory for the VC. In truth, their losses from Tet were so severe that they were only capable of opperating as well as they did via NVA troops being smuggled into South Vietnam. At the point of US withdrawal, at least 70% of the guerilla forces we were fighting were from the NVA and not the Vietcong. Had it just been between the VC and the USA+ the SVA, the war wouldn't have lasted for very long.