No. No.

It was not justified and we lost. I guess the context of the time is important -- the majority of Americans thought we were in a life or death struggle with the USSR and bought the Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon argument that the commie expansion must be stopped. In my opinion it could have been won and was lost largely due to the national press taking sides and accelerating the change in America's willingness to support it. But having won, so what?

Besides, using one bloody unjustifiable fiasco to justify another is not a useful argument, is it?