History of Withdrawal from Vietnam

History of Vietnam Withdrawal
■January 1973 Vietnam Peace Accords
■March 1973 US combat troops leave Vietnam
■March 1975 Congress ends military aid to South Vietnam
■April 1975 North Vietnamese final offensive
Deaths after war: 850,000 people

Some remember the US withdrawal from Vietnam blissfully. Let’s recap the facts:

Despite the signing of the1973 Vietnam Peace Accords with the last US combat troops leaving Vietnam on March 29, 1973, Democratic liberals abandoned our allies in Vietnam failing to fulfill our obligations.

It was two years later, in 1975, the Democrats in Congress,

“resisted President Gerald Ford’s January request for additional military aid to
South Vietnam and Cambodia. This appropriation would have provided the
beleaguered Cambodian and South Vietnamese militaries with ammunition, spare
parts, and tactical weapons needed to continue their own defense. Despite
the fact that the 1973 Paris Peace Accords called specifically for ‘unlimited
military replacement aid’ for South Vietnam, by March the House Democratic
Caucus voted overwhelmingly, 189-49, against any additional military assistance
to Vietnam or Cambodia.”

(By Virginia’s Senator-Elect James Webb former Navy Secretary)

There were significant human rights abuses in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon:

“A number of human rights abuses against South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians
occurred in the period following South Vietnam's unconditional surrender to the
forces of North Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The North Vietnamese rounded up
former Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldiers, members of the former
government, citizens that had held jobs connected to the United States
government, and religious civilians that did not pledge loyalty to the state.
They were sent to reeducation camps located throughout Vietnam that were
designated by the communist government in Hànội. Various estimates have been
given for the many thousands of deaths which occurred in those camps, as well as
the number of "boat people" who died attempting to escape the communist
government of Vietnam. A common figure quoted for the number perished is
approximately 850,000 people.”

We abandoned our allies not to the Vietnam insurgency, but to a large conventional North Vietnamese army that invaded South Vietnam in violation of the Peace Accords. If we now “Bring the troops home from Iraq”, those Iraqis who have worked with us to foster democracy will be tortured and killed. We have enough blood on our hands; let’s not abandon another ally.