Vietnam thirty years on - was it worth it?

As we now know, that second attack never took place. Nervous US sailors mistook their own propellers for the sound of an attack and fired back, thereby triggering other shooting. In 1995, Robert McNamara (who had been the Defence Secretary at the time) visited Vietnam as an honoured guest and discussed the Gulf of Tonkin episode.

He asked his Vietnamese hosts why they did not issue a media statement at the time denying the attack. They said they were the toast of the communist world for driving off the US Navy - why spoil the illusion?

The war expanded destructively. A total of 58,000 Americans killed, with 2,500 still unaccounted for.

For what purpose? In April 1975 the US suffered the worst defeat in its history when it was driven out of the country. The US maintained economic sanctions against Vietnam for two decades. In July 1995 the US at last recognised Vietnam. In November 2000 President Clinton visited Vietnam to improve the normalisation of relations.

The Vietnamese want economic growth and this is best achieved by the market system. Capitalism makes the best economic growth. Hollywood makes the best dreams.