John M. Tomaszewski – 1/12/07

This page was last updated on January 16, 2007.

Don’t repeat Vietnam pullout; John M. Tomaszewski; Beaver County Times; January 12, 2007.

Since September 2004, this is at least the 17^th letter from Mr. Tomaszewski spouting liberal talking points, with most bashing Republicans and/or President Bush.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Let us not forget the quagmire the Soviet Union (Russia) got itself into in Afghanistan. Now, we are in similar situations in both Afghanistan and Iraq.”

[RWC] I know I’m nitpicking, but the USSR and Russia aren’t synonyms.

“Let us not send more troops to either Afghanistan or Iraq. We should withdraw our troops from these countries in well-planned operations, not in haste as happened in the disastrous pullout in Vietnam.”

[RWC] Mr. Tomaszewski needs a history refresher course. U.S. troops were gradually removed from Vietnam beginning within months after President Nixon took office in 1969. All U.S. troops were gone by the end of 1973.

When Mr. Tomazewski wrote about “the disastrous pullout in Vietnam,” I assume he’s referring to the pictures of helicopters taking off from Saigon as the NVA overran South Vietnam forces. This took place in during April 1975, long after the U.S. military was gone. The people being removed weren’t U.S. service personnel. They were U.S. diplomats and their support personnel and South Vietnamese citizens who feared for their lives with a communist takeover.