More Kaddish - Obama’s “Good War” and The UNNECESSARY War

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More Kaddish - Obama’s “Good War” and The UNNECESSARY War

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More Kaddish - Obama’s “Good War” and The UNNECESSARY Vietnam War


The following string of e-mails was received earlier today.

Also included at the end (but not here) was the additional string of e-mails contained in today’s weekly Reading Liberally e-mail which was posted in this section and entitled “Saying Kaddish For Our Afghan and NATO Allies.”



---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Re: “The Good War” (Afghanistan) vs. “The Unnecessary War” (Vietnam)
From: john@johnkarls.com
Date: Sat, August 21, 2021 7:43 am EDT
To: Donald Leka
Bcc: Attendees of Our HLS-67 Zoom Lunches
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Don,

Re: “The Good War” (Afghanistan) vs. “The Unnecessary War” (Vietnam)


Thank you again for your kind/solicitous e-mail of last evening.

It reminded that your Zoom-lunch invitation of last Monday proposing Afghanistan as our focus for Tuesday, had commented – “Memories of Saigon, anyone?”

Most of us probably remember that President Obama loved to call the Afghan War “The Good War” to distinguish it from Iraq War II – not only as a constant campaign theme during his first presidential run but also both before and after he surged our troop levels in Afghanistan from fewer than 30 thousand to more than 100 thousand.

However, I am guessing that our group did not focus Tuesday on the fact that the Vietnam war was unnecessary if 1959 intelligence re the Sino-Soviet Split had been believed – as proved by Henry Kissinger.

**********
My Bona Fides

[BTW, no need to read further for anyone uninterested in why the Vietnam War was unnecessary.]

You probably don’t remember that last August, you asked each of us to provide a brief bio and I responded that I had had three simultaneous careers, explaining that in addition to my “day job” as an attorney, I had been –

(1) the co-founder of the first homeless shelter in Fairfield County CT in the 1970’s.

(2) one of 178 individuals (most of whom were CEO’s of major corporations) to step forward to replicate in 51 American cities what Eugene Lang had done following his 1981 promise to the children of Harlem PS 121 their college tuition if they would stay in school and then provided tutors and mentors until HS graduation.

[My own program served 200 children in public housing projects.]

(3) the volunteer national treasurer in the 1990’s for Gene Lang’s organization that oversaw the 178 programs which BTW transformed the typically-SINGLE DIGIT high-school graduation rates for the classes just ahead and just behind each “Dreamer” class to more than 90%.

(4) at the personal request of the U.N. Under-Secretary General for the Environment (after my “Dreamers” were in college), a volunteer fund-raiser for UNEP.

[Most of the world’s multi-billionaires are widows who love the fine and performing arts and they all wanted to become a friend of someone who tossed more than 3,000 bouquets to opera sopranos and ballerinas – most bouquets in Europe but quite a few in NYC.]

My third simultaneous career???

I was married for 33 years to the co-author of the nation’s most popular world-history textbook (McGraw Hill with National Geographic illustrations).

So my third simultaneous career was to read 12-15 thick biographies and historical tomes EACH YEAR to uncover overlooked nuggets for possible inclusion in the next edition, of which there were six during the 33 years.

**********
The 1959 Sino-Soviet Split

I apologize for the “bona fides” digression, but the third simultaneous career is important for confidence on the part of any classmate who would like to expound to friends on why the Vietnam War was unnecessary.

Prior to 1959, the Soviet Union had treated the ISLAMIC TURKS of Russian Turkestan (which fragmented into all of the “stans” except Pakistan and Afghanistan) as their “disposable populations” in whose midst nuclear testing could be conducted.

Ditto China vis-à-vis the ISLAMIC TURKS of Chinese Turkestan (aka Sinkiang Province).

And by 1959, the Soviets were trying to unite the ISLAMIC TURKS of both Russian and Chinese Turkestan under their own aegis in order to render China A NON-NUCLEAR POWER OVERNIGHT!!!

[The Chinese, for convenience, had located all of their nuclear research/production facilities in Sinkiang as well as using it as their testing grounds.]

Ditto the Chinese who by 1959 were trying to render the Soviet Union A NON-NUCLEAR POWER OVERNIGHT!!!

This was all documented contemporaneously by our intelligence services for President John (“you break it, you own it”) Kennedy who at least “green lighted” if not orchestrated the assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem a mere 3 weeks before his own assassination, and for President Lyndon (Gulf of Tonkin) Johnson.

If either of them had believed the intelligence, they would have realized that it was unnecessary to fight a war in Vietnam against “monolithic world-wide communism” which was our raison d’être.

**********
Henry Kissinger’s “Opening to China”

Most of us remember Nixon’s famous Feb 21-28, 1972, visit to China.

The “Opening to China” was, of course, engineered by Henry Kissinger who had been serving as National Security Adviser since Nixon’s inauguration on 1/20/1969 (following the “Opening to China” Kissinger did “double duty” serving simultaneously as Secretary of State from 9/22/1973).

It would appear that Kissinger did nothing more than believe the 1959 intelligence.

And then test it – resulting in the 7/15/1971 announcement of the 1972 trip.

Then it was simple to enter into “The Paris Peace Accords” on January 1973 followed by the official end of American involvement in the Vietnam War in August 1973 – though hostilities between the North and South Vietnamese governments continued for two more years until the fall of Saigon 4/30/1975.

**********
So Was Kissinger Simply Believing The 1959 Intelligence???

When we were at HLS, I had NOT intended to become an attorney.

As a result, each year I audited a Harvard course outside HLS but first & second year, couldn’t take them for credit despite spending more time on them than all of my HLS courses combined.

Either first or second year (I don't remember which), it was Prof. Kissinger’s seminar on Nuclear Diplomacy.

Unfortunately, there was no mention of the Sino-Soviet Split during the seminar.

However, we were able to schedule Henry Kissinger to talk at the NYC Harvard Club on 5/9/2018 on the occasion of the publication of “Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Level” by Harvard Professors Sebenius of the B-School, Mnookin of HLS and Burns of the Kennedy School.

I was delighted at the prospect of asking Kissinger to confirm that the “Opening to China” was based on the 1959 intelligence AND, THEREFORE, PROVED THE VIETNAM WAR HAD BEEN UNNECESSARY.

Unfortunately, the Trump Administration had begun consulting Kissinger and did NOT want him answering questions in public.

[An e-mail was sent to club members who had signed up for the presentation claiming that Kissinger was unexpectedly ill but that Professors Sebenius and Mnookin would talk – but neither of them knew anything about what motivated the Opening to China.]

So there we have it. Voilà.

I am 100% certain that the Opening to China was based on a belief in the 1959 intelligence and proved that the Vietnam War was unnecessary.

But I am NOT aware that Henry Kissinger was ever asked to confirm that either was true.

Respectfully submitted,

John Karls


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Re: Fwd: Report of the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
From: john@johnkarls.com
Date: Sat, August 21, 2021 3:45 am EDT
To: Donald Leka
Bcc:
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Don,

Thank you for your e-mail.

I can't remember "losing it" before, but can't think of a better time for doing so after 79.5 years!!!

Sincerely yours,

John Karls


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Re: Fwd: Report of the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
From: Donald Leka
Date: Fri, August 20, 2021 7:27 pm EDT
To: john@johnkarls.com
Bcc:
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear John,

Thank you for your heartfelt comments. I regret the knots in your stomach. I hope you can get in touch with techniques that allow you to contemplate such weighty issues without overwhelming your body and spirit. My comment is not a criticism, rather an expression of compassion for you and your feelings.

Best,

Don

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