Mom, Apple Pie, and the Ghost of Quagmires Past

21 January, 2004 | marron

[PA Engineer]

Excellent.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Forty years have passed since his time there and he is still haunted by what he did and saw, and the feeling that it was all for nothing ...

My immediate response was to say that it WAS for something.

. . . And then I continued to read and low and behold you said essentially the same thing - only much more eloquently.

Somebody must have a military ping list . . .

[MHGinTN]

Don't know if you've seen this, John, but it's worth a pause to read.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

There are several military ping lists.
Here's a Stryker Brigade Combat Team Tactical Studies Group (Chairborne) ping and a FR Treadheads Ping.

[shaggy eel]

,,, will do - thanx MHG.

[Graybeard58]

Greetings from my son Steve in Mosul

[demlosers]

Great essay!

[archy]

He saw the war both from the above-ground military perspective and from the slightly clandestine side when he was “loaned” over to Air America, hauling mysterious cargos to and from nameless airstrips in areas we never admitted to.

Rice.

[Of course, sometimes it WAS *hot rice....*]

-archy-/-

[archy]

Somebody must have a military ping list . . .

There are several, some organized by military units [Marines, Divisions, or other orgainizations] and some by millitary occupational skills or positions. And I maintain one of all FReeper veterans who come to my attention.

There are also a couple directed toward equipment or material studies, such as the Stryker/SBCT list, and one for those withan interest in Russian military activities.

I believe certain military aviators hereabouts have one of their own as well. If you're qualified to be on it, one of them'll eventually tell you so.

-archy-/-

[Wicket]

Wonderful essay.

I get a little cranky with the "but where are the WMD's" folks. Clearly Hussein had used them on his own people and would gladly use them on us given a chance. And the elimination of rape rooms/woodchippers and other endearing habits of the Hussein family by themselves make this a worthy effort.

Thank God we have a President who understands that doing the right thing costs us - sometimes in the lives of good, honorable men and women - but the cost is worth it.

[Khurkris]

Good article. With some judicious editing it could be 2 well focused and easier to read articles. Good luck with submissions.

Well done.

[Khurkris]

...and don't forget those pigs and durian fruit...

[okie01]

Standing O

[archy]

...and don't forget those pigs and durian fruit...

Pigs, and *pigs, large*....

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Thanks, C4. I just thought this deserves wide attention, and perhaps particularly from 'nam vets.

Just a civilian, myself . . . who was heartsore over some of the bungling I read about re: Vietnam and Cuba. marron really tells it like it was, and is. Though, as regards the fact of the post-WWII European empire of the Soviet Union, he might be interested in The New Dealers' War by Thomas Fleming . . .

[lodwick]

Perfectly stated - fuck the naysayers...give'm cartoons next time.

Maybe then, they'll understand.

[McGavin999]

You wrote this? Excellent. The thing I fear more than anything is that the American people will forget that we are even in a battle. Watching and listening to the democrats has convinced me that there are a large number of people in this country who would gladly turn their backs and walk away. The resulting destruction would first hit Iraq, and then our own country, but they will never acknowledge it.

[Travis McGee]

This is brilliant, it should be published widely!

Thank You!

[Travis McGee]

Jim, I'm so proud of what you have built when I read an essay like this.

[Travis McGee]

Long but worth every line!