Robert Freeman joins Scott to discuss his article “Why the US Lost the Vietnam War.” Freeman outlines the history of U.S. intervention in Vietnam dating back to the end of World War 2, details the political context in the United States immediately preceding and during the Vietnam War, and explains why Ken Burns’s Vietnam War is historical fiction.
Robert Freeman writes about economics and education. He is the author of The Best One-Hour History series which includes World War I, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, and other titles.
Discussed on the show:
- “The Vietnam War” by Ken Burns (PBS)
- World War II casualties of the Soviet Union
- Ngo Dinh Diem
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu
- Geneva Conference (1954)
- War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death, by Norman Solomon
- Josip Broz Tito
- Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, by Nick Turse
- NSC-68
- Cable 243
- Khmer Rouge
- Pol Pot
- Cambodian Genocide
- Free-fire zone
- “The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People” (The New Yorker)
- Tet Offensive
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