As one who became an adult during the time of the American involvement in Vietnam I am struck by our efforts as older citizens to justify the fiasco through the use of paternalistic and flawed logic. The use of this form of thinking is similar to the approach that caused the mistakes of the American Vietnam effort and the repeated Mideast American actions that have facilitated the more recent failures there. This philosophy is illustrated, I believe, in the recent letter to the editor by Mr. William Elgee (“Loss of 57,000 in Vietnam is not a sign of abandonment” May 14, 2015), and in the recent PBS special, “Last Days in Vietnam.”

The “Domino theory” and the concept that other countries “need” our military help in order to establish a form of government that we see as best for “them” and, in some vague way, supportive of United States interests represents bad thinking and causes bad results. It seems to me that we citizens should have learned this principal by now.

Frank Snepp (author of “Decent Interval,” 1977) and Frank Scotton (author of “Uphill Battle,” 2014), both of whom were present in Vietnam as CIA officers during the fateful days of 1961-1975, make the point that our failed policy could have been seen and acted upon in the late 1960s, well before the commitment of over 500,000 troops. In recent conversations, both of these authors ask why we have, as a nation, not learned the lessons of these failed approaches to foreign policy?

Perhaps it is caused by the inflated opinion of ourselves resulting from our World War II successes. (This was a war in which our involvement was more easily supported.) Maybe we need a more balanced national discourse that includes more contrasting opinions and the uncomfortable admission of our failures.

David Scotton

Cape Elizabeth

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