The Justification for the War in Vietnam

The war in Vietnam ended the life of almost 60,000 American soldiers who died in the jungles of Vietnam and millions of Vietnamese civilians as well. We were told that we were there to bring democracy to the people of Vietnam to ensure that they were not subject to despotism even though the South Vietnamese government who was our ally was anything but democratic. The same justification was given for the CIA covert regime change war in Syria where we're fighting on the side of al Qaeda and ISIS trying to change the government of Syria. Even if you believe that it was somehow the duty of the US government to sacrifice the lives of its citizens  the foundational claim never made sense says Julian Zelizer.