Message from a Time Traveler

Dan Simmons - Official Web Site ^ | April 1, 2006 | Dan Simmons

[Sam Cree]

Jack Chalker, OK, great, I'll check him out too. Thanks very much.

[Sam Cree]

I clicked on your name. Enough stuff there to keep me going for a long time! Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated.

[archy]

re :No more than we were in Vietnam.
We used the wrong strategy in Vietnam.

However, the British one for Northern Ireland worked rather well, as did Sir Robert Thompson's efforts in Malaya.

When the US Forces Strategy re Vietnam was formulated, COIN was very much in its infancy.

Hardly. They'd just forgotten the lessons learned from the French and Indian Wars, the War for Independence, the War for Northern Dominance, the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War and the Philipino Insurrection. Plus campaigns in Haiti, Nicaraugua, and a few other backwaters.

That is why the main strategy was for the US forces to defeat the VC, while the ARVN was to hold the line.

Not at all. Had that been the case, we'd have done to North Vietnam what we did to Germany and Japan during WWII. And for reasons political and otherwise, we did not.

It was only when Nixon decided to withdraw that we started the process of Vietnimisation.

Actually, on 02 November 1963. And followed up on 22 November 1963.

In this case the strategy's is for the Iraqis to take over and hold the line.

I'll believe that when the American guards around the Green Zone and US Embassy are replaced with Iraqis.

That is why more emphasis as been placed on training up the Iraqi Security Forces.

Are you familiar with

The best people to deal with a insurgency are those who live there with are help.

Concur. If you trust them. If you do, you arm them. If not, you don't, and you disarm them, searching their homes door-to-door. As in Serbia, Northern Ireland and in Iraq. And creating more insurgents in the process....

[archy]

Thanks much, I'll check out Killian and Smith, maybe Robinson. Great thing about FR, you get book recommendations here!

If you're going to start reading Spider Robinson's output, be prepared for a very l o n g project; his career has spanned some 30 years. But I think it's pretty hard to go wrong by suggesting that you begin *here*:

[Not a spoiler: there's a treat inside for Damon Runyon fans]

[joanie-f]

Will do. (Nice to see you, stranger. :)

[wally-balls]

LOCK and LOAD
READY. AIM. FIRE!!!!

[txhurl]

?? (see FRname)

[null and void]

I'm mystified by that post...

[happymom]

My guess for the three words:

American Islamic Republic

[Sam Cree]

Thanks!

[jokar]

bump

[kalee]

Certainly chilling.

[Sam Cree]

Cute cover art also.

[GOPJ]

:)

[Hootowl]

You, perhaps, have missed the news that people of European heritage will be a minority (i.e., less than 50% of the population) in the United States within a decade?

[tonycavanagh]

re :You, perhaps, have missed the news that people of European heritage will be a minority (i.e., less than 50% of the population) in the United States within a decade?

But does that mean the end of American values.

I don't get to meet many Americans, the only Americans I meet tend to be students tourists and in the American Armed forces.

And I have to say that they black, Asian, Hispanic all seem pretty homogenized and very American to me.

[archy]

Israel was nuked -- the lie put out by the other side was "without Israel to fight over, there will be peace in the region - and now that they're gone, what's there to fight over?" Some, in the horror of the time, bought the excuse. And that time was used to Islamic advantage. Again, consolidation. And so on ... and the three words? All of us who are time travelers know them -- and the writer is trolling for those of us left ... or, he's on the other side - trying to take out those few of us...

Three words for ya': Bethlehem, Christmas Day.

[GOPJ]

Not bad, not bad at all...

Thanks.

[null and void]

Good one.

[cgbg]

Outstanding tagline!

I consider myself well-read but I had never seen that quote before.