@wildflower
@augustlan
Yet, both the Korean and the Vietnam wars were distinct parts of it. I am sure the soldiers were told they were fighting for S. Korea and for S. Vietnam in order to save them, but what Washington was fighting was the Russians and the Chinese, in other words Communism.
The Domino Theory was a real threat back then. The numerous wars and conflicts of Africa and South-America were proxy wars too. Nothing happened without backing from either the US and USSR, which is why the US saw it justified for creating and supporting atrocious regimes like that of Pinochet of Chile and the regime of the Iranian shah, just as the USSR did supporting Idi Amin for example. Both countries abandoned their principles in order to fight the other.
I am sure you considered the Vietnam war and the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan as individual just conflicts with nothing in common. But communist socialism was in the west’s impression spreading like a disease in the world and USSR for one reason wanted to reach the Indian Ocean in the name of liberating the people. The US didn’t go in to help the vietnamese any more than helping the Iraqis today.
This is what the cold war was. There was also the arms race, and the bitter words back and forth.
The peace you talk about, ..super-power race, ‘star wars’, the iron curtain, the berlin wall, cuban missile crisis, is the absence of direct military conflict between the US and USSR. That’s the main reason why it was called the Cold War. Fighting each others influence, but no direct military confrontation.
If you want to put the Vietnam war and the Korean war in the Just War section, go right ahead. During the time period it was perceived as such. The world was Bipolar, and divided between the two. Not considering the Vietnam war as a part of a bigger picture, is a chosen perception of it.