The CODOH Revisionist Forum

What are you all's views on the Vietnam war?

There isn't really the same mythology surrounding Vietnam as there is with WWII. The essential facts of the Vietnam War don't seem to be much disputed by anyone. And opinion on Vietnam is not nearly as constrained as for WWII, so there's less need for underground revisionism.

Attitudes on the Vietnam War will generally depend on one's politics. Leftists at the time were sympathetic to the Communists and opposed US intervention. Isolationist types would have also opposed it but for different reasons (seeing ambitious foreign interventions as being generally unwise). Hawks/Cold Warriors would have felt it was justified and essential, though support for the war eroded as it dragged on. There would have been a split on the right between Cold War and isolationist motivations. And then there could be any number of mixed positions, e.g., it was justified in some sense but we lacked the will to get the job done or whatever. Most WWII revisionists probably lean toward the isolationist side. Again, these disagreements are more attitudes about the war rather than major disputes over fundamental factual points.

Question is too broad for proper incisive response. Sketching some initial thoughts to see where the chips fall.

By Vietnam war are you including Dien Bien Phu? If we are including Dien Bien Phu then it cannot be overstated that this was an utter humiliation of the French, and by extension “the last hurrah” of the Old World colonial powers, and the beginning of the rise of the Global South.

Do you mean militarily? If we are speaking militarily it can be understood that the Vietnam war moved the needle from 3rd Gen Warfare (modern conventional) to 4th Gen Warfare (insurgency / guerrilla).

If you mean geopolitically, the Vietnam war must be understood as a proxy war of the larger Cold War, arguably its most important battleground. I suspect many posters here will be more invested in the Cold War proper, than the Vietnam War specifically, due to its close proximity to the fall of the Third Reich and obviously the Holocaust.

If you mean by lasting political impact, it cannot be overstated that the United States suffered a humiliation on the scale it had never received before. In propaganda terms, the gulf of Tonkin incident often gets spoken about in US-critical circles because it is a tangible example of an intentional false flag to pursue aggressive geopolitical goals

That seems like enough to get started.