Posted on 01/22/2007 6:51:58 AM PST by kellynla
Besides, what can Baldacci do? Cancel my Dirigo Health insurance? From what I hear he'd be doing me a favor.
;O)
Yes keeny Bunk, sad to say that what I mean is that with the Democrat/Socialists in control we will have more attacks here and around the world that kill many more Americans.
The lull will allow Terrorists to regroup and to put out that they defeated America, which will swell their ranks with the faithful.
Then yet again we will need to send our young men into harms way, but to an enemy that is a lot stronger and smarter.
Bingo. And that's precisely why the Rats made a big deal of such a small deal as the Watergate break in.
Watergate was all about getting us out of Vietnam, nothing more, nothing less.
By no means your mistake, my good man. But remember, a beaten rug is a clean rug.
In fact, I am such a good sport, that when Governor B goes back to washing dishes over to his Mom's place, I'll use it to buy you a beer, if you promise not to smoke in your car.
The problem with the "history" of the Vietnam War was that it was written by Journalists, not historians. And not for another twenty years, when these journalists and their disciples in the academies are dead--that is the Baby Boomers are in the grave--will it be possible to write a true history of the Vietnam War. Maybe that is why the devil is keeping Teddy Kennedy alive.
Hardly. We tried to fight a guerrila war conventionally, and it is the same thing we are doing in Iraq. There were no traditional "lines" in Vietnam the way there were in WWII. The populace did not see us as liberators and we never actually tried to conquer North Vietnam.
We actually adapted quite quickly to the war in VietNam, with tactics like "Search and Destroy," LRRPs Patrols, Ambushes, Mobile Fire Bases, etc.
But on one level, I think you are correct and I take your point: It's my theory that we didn't do enough of this aggressive sort of thing, employing only the merest fraction of the troops we had in country at any one time. But still, despite our hamstrung inefficiency, we still pretty much wiped out the indigenous VietCong, and caused the NVA enormous casualties
Also, please remember that were handicapped by the Johnson Administration. (May each and every member of it rot in a special Hell for it) The war was micro-managed from the White House.... right down to LBJ himself selecting tactical air targets. Thanks to the Walker Family Spy Ring and a giant hole in Naval Communications Security, the Russians read LBJ's foolish instructions before we did and as a result the enemy was rarely surprised.
In the end, we were trumped in VietNam the same way the French were. When they had the Foreign Legion there, the frogs at home were fashionably appalled at their successful operations, and a communist-inspired media campaign forced them to change tactics, and of course eventually pull out after the disaster at Dienbienphu.
Painful. Victory could have been ours.
Army ticket punching, O yeah, we had plenty of that. It's how we wound up with General Colin Powell, Weasley Clark and a whole lot of other wastes of time in top positions, from which they are now mercifully retiring.
the tip to tail ratio, etc. At one point it had to be 20 to 1. If we could have had all the REMFs join hands and march north, we probably could have stomped the NVA to death.
That and the accomodation of the enemy Yup, saw that. (Usually by failing to provide the "blocking force," that would really punish the NVA.) But also saw ARVN units fight like goddam tigers.
and corruption of the South Vietnamese. Let's just say that I could make up any temporary equipment deficit down at the public market!
If I remember right, LBJ was given the option of winning in Vietnam. He chose a war of attrition. Funny how Democrats always seen to construct our losses based on their decisions and then blame it on those who follow.
I'm stuned. Stuned, I say!
I'm in the reserves now and did a tour in Kuwait. My unit is a navy reserve unit that guarded two ports in Kuwait and two Iraqi oil terminals. In some respects, I don't think we learned our lesson. There are way too many officers and senior enlisted and/or officers w/ starched cammies running around doing nothing and causing trouble. (these guys were all super-commandos too with all the right blackhawk gear). Our commodore put himself in for a bronze star for generally doing nothing. Some (in my unit) came only long enough to get a GWOTE and then went back to the states. I'm sure it happens in Iraq and Afghanistan and I've heard reports of Cols. and Gens. getting bronze and silver stars for being within a 5 mile radius of mortar impacts.
I don't know how much enemy accomodation happens in Iraq or Afghanistan...but I bet there is a ton of corruption.
With the tip-to-tail I wonder how many fighters are going over there for the surge. Or are we sending more clerks in uniform....
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