The Scale of American Warfare Post WWII – Vietnam

September 4, 2009

Americans are amazingly ignorant of the scale and costs of our warfare.

For example, during the Vietnam War (or the American War as the Vietnamese say) the US dropped more bombs on Vietnam, a country the size of Wisconsin and Minnesota, than all of the bombs used during WWII.

In fact more than triple the amount: “By the time the United States ended its Southeast Asian bombing campaigns, the total tonnage of ordnance dropped approximately tripled the totals for World War II. The Indochinese bombings amounted to 7,662,000 tons of explosives, compared to 2,150,000 tons in the world conflict. 1

Footnotes

  1. Clodfelter, Micheal Vietnam in Military Statistics: A History of the Indochina Wars, 1792—1991′. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 1995, p. 225

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And so, to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation, and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity.  And we are ready to lead once more.

This is heart warming.  But, turning to some of the facts on the ground…… —>> read more –>>