Posted on 07/18/2005 7:57:49 PM PDT by Dont Mention the War
breaking, more to come
Westy was an honest and moral man. His problem was that he believed he was dealing with an honest and moral president and a principled Secretary of Defense. LBJ used the troop buildups, and later the Gulf of Tonkin incident, as a way of distracting Congress and the American people in a shrewd and ruthless attempt to win an election. It worked - for a while.
Nam - 67 and 69/70
For the US, it was Vietnam. For the USSR, it was Afghanistan.
A direct war between the US and the USSR would have unleashed a nuclear Holocaust nothing could have survived. As an alternative, Vietnam and Afghanistan were proxy wars between the two major powers.
The thousands of military men and women who died in Vietnam and Afghanistan were not lost in vain. They were soldiers in a death struggle between the two superpowers on Earth. By fighting in a proxy war in these two small countries, the US and USSR were able to confront each other militarily, in a safer way.
Their sacrifice, prevented a nuclear war!
The evidence to date says NO, but please feel free to provide a link.
I agree with you. I will not dance on his grave, but the man and his ideas were made to look foolish when the ACTUAL successes of Creighton Abrams were witnessed after Westmoreland's command was finished.
If Abrams and JP Vann were in charge from the beginning, there would be a second "South Korea" in Asia right now.
May General Westmoreland rest in God's peace. (He's now in a place not influence by revisionist history, media lies, and spin.)
Prayers for and condolences to his family and friends.
>>The military did not lose the conflict in SE Asia. The government did.<<
More specifically, one Robert McNamara. There's a lot of blood on that old bastard's hands.
BTTT!!!!!!!
bump
"...If Abrams and JP Vann were in charge from the beginning..."
Interesting. I often think of Vann whenever I hear anyone complain that we do not have enough troops in Iraq.
Ah yes... the Treaty of Paris, thr negotiated peace that indicated Great Britain did not lose the American Revolution.
R I P Gen Westmoreland
May every one of your comrades R I P. There are many of us who appreciate every sacrifice. And, I'm sure there are a few Vietnam people who do, too!
May your brother R I P. There are many of us who appreciate the sacrifices made (from your whole family).
May your father R I P. I appreciate your whole family's sacrifice.
tonk bump
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Same here...respect for his service but a realistic view of what happened under his command, primarily the "body count" farce and TET. Tet proved a victory in that it effectively destroyed the VC's capabilities but two things need to be remembered...the very fact that the VC and NVA were able to stage and launch Tet with nearly 70,000 troops right under westy's nose and Westy's reaction, which was a total misread; his view was that Tet was a diversion and that the real push would come at Khe Sanh. The German's failed at Normandy in large part due to the same faulty thinking.
He had to come home to a war the DEMS lost and fight 60 Minutes' lies.
lived a long life, died of natural causes. sounds like a winner to me.
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