Yeah, Vietnam wrecked our anti-imperialist cred that we cultivated after WW2. While our actions in Latin America have always been questionable at best, we were actually major supporters of international independence movements against our own nominal allies in Europe, and for that reason, maintained a strong anti-imperialist reputation all throughout the 50s.
Not that this reputation wasn’t tarnished with very not-anti-imperialist involvement in some cases - Operation Ajax coming to mind for an example outside of Latin America - but that it also wasn’t completely unwarranted - such as our involvement in pressuring the UK during the Suez Canal Crisis, or the fact that we ran interference for Moroccan independence groups against France, or our support for Indonesian independence against the Netherlands.
All of that, gone in a metaphorical instant, washed away in a tide of blood and war crimes.
Yeah, Vietnam wrecked our anti-imperialist cred that we cultivated after WW2. While our actions in Latin America have always been questionable at best, we were actually major supporters of international independence movements against our own nominal allies in Europe, and for that reason, maintained a strong anti-imperialist reputation all throughout the 50s.
Not that this reputation wasn’t tarnished with very not-anti-imperialist involvement in some cases - Operation Ajax coming to mind for an example outside of Latin America - but that it also wasn’t completely unwarranted - such as our involvement in pressuring the UK during the Suez Canal Crisis, or the fact that we ran interference for Moroccan independence groups against France, or our support for Indonesian independence against the Netherlands.
All of that, gone in a metaphorical instant, washed away in a tide of blood and war crimes.