Sallow
The Big Bad Wolf.
No one was the "dupe" of anyone. The Soviet Union was an incredibly secretive place..and couple that with the yellow dog journalism from only a couple of decades prior to this story and it might become clear why reporting may not of been as accurate as it was..
And the Khmer Rouge rose as a RESULT of America's actions in the region. Nixon, initially, albeit briefly, supported them as a foil to the NVA. And it was the NVA that ultimately got rid of them.
PC of course ignores all context and goes on to indict that which she hates.
Wrong, again, Toothy.
But, I like you so I'll provide the instruction you so dearly need.
Much of the following from Paul Kangor's aptly named tome, "Dupes." What could be better for your instruction???
1. In the early years after the Bolshevik Revolution, the communists used manipulations, such as the Potemkin Villages, to pursued the world how admirable and successful the revolution had been. One technique was to invite prominent American and British leftists to take carefully planned tours. And these ‘Potemkin Progressives,’ for the most part, behaved and thought just as they were meant to. Woodrow Wilson wouldn’t recognize the Bolshevik regime, nor would the contemporary British government (Churchill had famously told Lloyd George, ‘You might a well legalize sodomy…’
a. Toothy says "No one was the "dupe" of anyone." But the truth is that Lenin, and then Stalin, carefully arranged the tours so that these progressives would then go back to their countries and praise Soviet Russia, and have the citizens demand that Russia be recognized. See, that's what 'dupes' means.
2. H.G. Wells met with Stalin in 1934, and wrote “I’ve never met a man more candid, fair and honest!” and “…everyone trusts him!’ And of Lenin, “…frank, refreshing, and an amazing little man!’ Of course, 1934 was the start of the Great Purge, “Sergey Kirov's murder in 1934 was used by Stalin as a pretext to launch the Great Purge, in which about a million people perished. Some later historians came to believe that Stalin himself arranged the murder, or at least that there was sufficient evidence to reach such a conclusion.” Conquest, Robert, “Stalin and the Kirov Murder”, p. 122-138.
3. Another 'dupe,' Toothy? George Bernard Shaw met with Stalin, as well. He returned, and wrote, “ We cannot afford to give ourselves moral airs when our most enterprising neighbors, the Soviet Union, humanely and judiciously liquidates a handful of exploiters and speculators to make the world safe for honest men.” Now, lest one thinks this was said sarcastically, Lady Aster and others who were present, and took notes, from the meeting, wrote that that was exactly and precisely what Stalin had said. He parroted the exact line that Stalin had given him!
a. When he returned from the Soviet Union, Shaw backed up ever lie that Walter Duranty reported. He testified that there was not, and never could be, a food shortage in the USSR. Paul Hollander, “Political Pilgrims,” p.119
b. Don't forget the dupes Duranty, Salisbury, Anthony Lewis, all wrote in the dupe-journal, the NYTimes.
And, of course, there's you!
4. "And the Khmer Rouge rose as a RESULT of America's actions in the region."
Now, I commend you re: Nixon and the North Vietnamese, I'll bet few on the board even know that much....but you couldn't be more ignorant about the origins of the Khmer Rouge!
The actuality is that it was North Vietnam that widened the war, not the United States. It was before 1965 that Hanoi created the Khmer Rouge (as early as WWII) and the Pathet Lao (mid ‘50’s) with the goal of conquering all of Indochina for communism.
Care to bet on this one?
a. In “Sideshow,” William Shawcross claims that the 1970 bombings caused the coup in which Prince Sihanouk was by Lon Nol. But this adumbrates the issues, as Sihanouk attempted to be too clever, allowing the Vietnamese to invade his country, and then telling Kissinger he could bomb them.
b. The North Vietnamese were getting support from the Soviet Union and China, determined to support wars of “national liberation.”
c. In 1994, Shawcross acknowledged his error: “Those of us who opposed the American war in Indochina should be extremely humble in the face of the appalling aftermath: a form of genocide in Cambodia and horrific tyranny in both Vietnam and Laos. Looking back on my own coverage for The Sunday Times...,I think I concentrated too easily on the corruption and incompetence of the South Vietnamese and their American allies, was too ignorant of the inhuman Hanoi regime, and far too willing to believe that a victory by the Communists would provide a better future. But after the Communist victory came the refugees to Thailand and the floods of boat people desperately seeking to escape the Cambodian killing fields and the Vietnamese gulags. Their eloquent testimony should have put paid to all illusions.” William Shawcross - writer and broadcaster, UK : official personal website
Do the honorable thing and admit you were wrong....or, put your bushy tail between your legs and slink away.
Not hardly.
Cherry picking through events without proper context may be all the rage in Conservative circles..but it t'aint flying in the real world.
Stalin was amazingly secretive...and quite good at it. That's how he came to power. Through the military and security. I guess you missed the whole power struggle between him and Trotsky..and Trotsky's eventual assassination. Add in that the US was dead tired of interfering in the world..and the dismal conditions brought on by feckless "free market" corporatism made this nation ripe for communism..or fascism..since a large part of the population was suffering. Had we not had a President like FDR things might have been terribly different..thanks to conservatives.
Eisenhower admitted the Mihn would have won a general election..fair and square. And AGAIN..for the cheap seats. It was the VIETNAMESE that got rid of the Khmer Rouge.