Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.

From his letter to America

  • AcidSmiley [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    americans convincing themselves they "only lost vietnam because of the hippies" continues to wreck their ability to understand war until this day

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      americans convincing themselves

      In fairness, a lot of American understanding comes via some nationalist flack with a mega-phone screaming it into your ears for your entire life and drowning out any vestige of memory from the past.

      Americans understood Vietnam well enough in the moment, but had that understanding drummed out of them all through the 70s/80s. Then they were reintroduced via the Iraq War, but have since had it drummed out once more.

      The next war will bring a new epiphany. But by then... who knows. The American state is already sloughing into decline so quickly that it may not matter.

    • SerLava [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      I was well into adulthood before I found out the US military was nearing actual revolt against the US government because of the Vietnam War and that is the only reason Nixon ended it- the Vietnamese literally nearly destroyed the US without leaving their backyards.

      It was as real a defeat as any.

        • SerLava [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Our_Ship_(SOS)

          This is a major component of it, which also references the absolute refusal of ground troops to fight. When they refused to fight, it shifted to a primarily air bombardment war, but then the aircraft carrier crews and other naval crews began to organize and sabotage their own ships.

          Just extremely based shit that was instantly swept under the rug

        • SerLava [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          Yup, the soldiers were on the verge of simply mass defecting, in an organized fashion.

            • SerLava [he/him]
              ·
              edit-2
              3 years ago

              https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Our_Ship_(SOS)

              This is a major component of it, which also references the absolute refusal of ground troops to fight. When they refused to fight, it shifted to a primarily air bombardment war, but then the aircraft carrier crews and other naval crews began to organize and sabotage their own ships.

              Just extremely based shit that was instantly swept under the rug