When I was young, I observed that a precious few nuts wanted to get behind the Iron Curtain, while the bodies on the barbed wire at the Berlin Wall testified how mortally desperate many were to get out.

Peter Fechter's body being carried from the wall, Aug 1962.

That seemed clear.

Never had reason to revise that image's lesson, only reinforced.

During Nam, I understood the protesters against an unfair draft, corporatized warfare, and thoughtless jingoism, but protesting these things got conflated with (or hijacked by) anti-war, pro-Communist, anti-American ideologues. All I could think was, had they not seen the bodies at the wall as I had?

When the slaughter and torture of our abandoned SVN allies inevitably occurred, 'told you so' was awfully cold comfort.