re: #808 Olsonist

It’s pretty hard to be precise with a 60s era B52. What sort of ‘intelligence’ did we have? Think then and think now. We had really nothing to go on. Remember this was essentially a civil war with little distinction between the good guys and the bad guys. We illegally carpet bombed Laos which was not even a third world country.

The great thing is that 40 years on we have normal relations with Vietnam.

The areas carpet bombed were largely uninhabited areas trough which the Ho Chi Mien Trail ran. Our bombing campaign was meant to shut down the North’s supply of men and arms to its forces in the South. And there were distinctions between the RVN and the Communist North: The commies had much broader lists of enemies (especially ‘class enemies’, which normally included school teachers) and they murdered such people both during and after the war in large numbers. The Communists were far more murderous than their opposition, corrupt though that opposition was.

I’ve got to get to sleep, but I will read this thread in the morning and respond to any replies.