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[u/51PO5]

What do you think about the wikipedia for "Laotian Civil War"

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laotian_Civil_War&oldid=783988675

Seems at odds with what you said. This is what you said:

A coalition government was established in 1958 after the only elections worthy of the name in the history of Laos. Despite extensive US efforts, they were won handily by the left. Nine of the thirteen candidates of the [communist] Pathet Lao guerrillas won seats in the national assembly, along with four candidates of the left-leaning neutralists (“fellow traveler,” as they were called by Ambassador Parsons). Thus “Communists or fellow travelers” won thirteen of the twenty-one seats contested. The largest vote went to the leader of the Pathet Lao, Prince Souphanouvong, who was elected chairman of the national assembly.

US pressures- including, crucially, the withdrawal of aid – quickly led to the overthrow of the government in a coup by a “pro-Western neutralist” who pledged his allegiance to “the free world” and declared his intention to disband the political party of the Pathet Lao (Neo Lao Hak Sat), scrapping the agreements that had successfully established the coalition. He was overthrown in turn by the CIA favorite, the ultra-right-wing General Phoumi Nosavan. After US clients won the 1960 elections, rigged so crudely that even the most pro-US observers were appalled, civil war broke out, with the USSR and China backing a coalition extending over virtually the entire political spectrum apart from the extreme right, which was backed by the United States.

Things you missed:

North Vietnam invaded Laos, and the Communists gained their power as lackeys for these foreign invaders. Although the Communists did well in the 1958 elections, they absolutely did not have a majority in government at the time, and in fact stonewalled the legitimate government. Xananikôn was elected constitutionally by the National Assembly, including the Communists. The Communists refused to stand down their armies and join the national government, and when the government tried to make them, North Vietnam invaded again, with the Communists supporting the foreign invaders. It was in this context that the Neutralists launched their coup, and Phoumi’s CIA-backed countercoup was actually in opposition to it.

You missed out a giant foreign invasion happening during the middle of the events yr describing.

Is this a case of wikipedia being innacurate?

goo.gl/rBaea2

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Noam's reply

What I wrote was quite accurate, as the sources establish. Wikipedia is very good for certain things -- mathematics, medieval history, etc. When it reaches matters of contemporary ideology, everyone knows to take it with many large grains of salt.