Posted on 05/15/2006 12:39:01 PM PDT by LSUfan
The NVA did not win against the United States. Further, they were ALLOWED to enter South Vietnam virtually unopposed due to the fact the Congress prevented US help.
Didn't you ever wonder why so many former Commies in Eastern Europe ended up not sounding very different from the non-Communists who took over after the fall of the Iron Curtain?
It's because the whole "intellectual" class in all of those countries shares a set of biases and prejudices that would make a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan blush.
Even today, those few who survived, are cast aside like so much garbage by their NVA masters.
This part of the world is class ridden. It's not good to be in the lower caste.
Isn't big ZB a new world order guy?
More recently Ukraine has been considered more Eastern European than an integral part of what had been the Russian Empire. Belorus is another special case ~ it was created by Joe Stalin to account for one of the USSR's extra votes in the UN.
The intellectual classes there do not think highly of Arabs, Turks, Asians, Africans or Southern Europeans. I don't think Latin Americans even catch their attention.
I've met plenty of these guys over the years ~ you should get out more and find out for yourself.
"Islamic Fascists just don't seem that scary at this point. 9/11 looks more and more like a 'lucky shot'"
You are scary.
2000 US Cole.
1999 Trunk full of ricin caught entering our country.
1998 2 US Embassies bombed.
1995-1996 Khobar Towers bombed and US Diplomats kidnapped/killed.
1993 Somalia.
1993 First WTC bombing.
etc,
etc,
etc,...
"What I am arguing is that the level of threat, as percieved by the average Joe doesn't rise to the level of requiring a war in response."
The entire country was paralyzed for several days, and mostly paralyzed for months.
The WTC did not stop burning until at least 100 days after Sept 11th 2001.
95% nationwide approval to go to war against Al Quaeda, and you somehow think the average Joe didn't mean it? You somehow think the average american didn't think this rose to the level of war? The evidence proves that you are completely wrong about this. 5% of Americans did not think this rose to the level of war. That is a long way from "the average Joe".
You only show a portion of what the US and coalition forces are doing in Iraq.
CENTAF releases airpower summary
U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released today's airpower summary.
Coalition aircraft flew 49 close-air-support missions May 11 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. They included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.
US Air Force F-16
Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, Navy F/A-18 Hornets and Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s provided close-air support to coalition troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Al Hawijah, Al Mahmudiyah, Al Taji, Haditha and Tall Afar.
In addition, 13 Air Force, Navy and RAF intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. Air Force and Navy fighter aircraft flew in a non-traditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20060512134039tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Story.html
And they are also taking care of this:
Al Qaida Leaders Caught or Killed, Linked to Saddam's Regime
By Mark Eichenlaub
High ranking al Qaeda leaders who have been caught or killed have turned out to be former high ranking military or intelligence officers in Saddam Hussein's regime.
Abdel Fatih Isa - former Iraqi Army officer and al Qaeda emir
Ahmad Hasan Kaka al-'Ubaydi - Ahmad Hasan Kaka al-'Ubaydi is a former Iraqi Intelligence Service officer, and is now believed associated with Ansar Al Islam affiliate.
Rafid Ibrahim Fattah - He traveled throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq for the last 15 years, forming a relationship with al-Qaida in 1999. He served as a liaison between terrorist networks, as an operations officer coordinating the activities of the various terrorist groups, and as a security chief for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. military. Kurdi moved to Iraq in 1992, joining the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan.
Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi - aka Abu Ayman, Until his capture, Abu Ayman, the former aide to the Chief of Staff of Intelligence during the Saddam Hussein regime for 30 years, was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army in the Northern Babil Province . Abu Ayman has strong ties to terror leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, still considered the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq .
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri - possibly dead, "The former vice chairman of Saddam's Baathist Revolutionary Command Council. He swore fealty to Zarqawi last year and commands a significant element of the Baathist/al Qaeda converts. H has significant links in Syria and is an important source of funding for al Qaeda in Iraq."
Unidentified man - "The man who was killed was later identified as a retired officer in the Iraqi Air Force serving under the Saddam Hussein regime. The male who initiated the gunfire is a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist for whom the troops were searching, as well as the retired officer's son. "
Abu Asim - A former Special Republican Guard officer under Saddam Hussein, authorities believe Abu Asim has been active within the insurgency since the fall of the former regime. Associate of Abu Musab al Zarqawi
Fadhil Ibrahim Mahmud Al-Mashadani, "the former leader of the Military Bureau in Baghdad during the Saddam Hussein regime, was apprehended by security forces in a military operation conducted at a farm in the northeast of Baghdad," a government statement said."
Abu Talha, also known as Mohammed Khalaf Shkarah al-Hamadani , a key facilitator and financier for al Qaeda, the purported head of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi's terror cell and former member of Saddam Hussein's once ruling Baath Party and a warrant officer in the former Iraqi army
Abed Dawood Suleiman and his son, Raed Abed Dawood, - Abed was a former Iraqi general believed to be Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "military adviser", his son Raed was a former Army captain in the Iraqi army
http://newsblaze.com/story/20060511224435nnnn.nb/newsblaze/IRAQ0001/Iraq.html
(I have plenty more of these also).And they are doing this:
Coalition helicopters stop IED emplacers, kills one
By MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - NORTH, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION (AIR ASSAULT) TIKRIT, IRAQ (FOB SPEICHER)
One insurgent was killed and one was wounded by coalition aircraft May 11 while attempting to emplace an IED east of Hawija, in the Kirkuk Province.
During a nighttime aerial reconnaissance mission, helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, discovered two insurgents digging near a road in an effort to place an IED. The aircrews shot both insurgents.
A ground team of Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division and 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division moved into the area and confirmed that one insurgent was killed. The second was wounded and was not found at the site. The ground team also discovered two AK-47s, two hand grenades and several magazines.
The IED was made up of artillery rounds and was destroyed in a controlled blast.
The Congress.
I assume you are referring to the United States Congress.
Yes, that United States.
I would say that craven surrender on the part of the United States equals VICTORY OVER THE UNITED STATES by the enemy, wouldn't you?
All this "the NVA never defeated the US" is absurd. We surrendered. They won.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how as the play?
A better comparison is comparing the aftermath.
The occupation of Germany and Japan with the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In both cases the occupation will last until we have built a viable self sustaining state as we did in Germany and Japan.
We are no longer at war with the Iraqi or Afghani people, we are instead fighting a counter insurgency war with certain elements within there population aided by outsiders.
I do not recall the US surrendering to the NVA, nor do they.
I didn't think he was.
You are saying the Congress declared war? Please provide documentation of this fantasy declaration.
I agree. It is like the aftermath, even down to Iran as a looming problem similar to the Soviet Union. Cold War II not World War II, complete with occassional proxie wars might be the best analogy.
Every statement you made is in the past tense. Sure the country was riled up after 9/11. That was 9/11/2001. To some extent we are becoming complacent. The twin towers looks more and more like an aberation, a lucky shot. Al Qaeda talks big, but hasn't struck again in America. Even the strikes in Europe, while horrific, were not of the size of 9/11.
In point of fact, he is correct. Until Congress declares war, the Democrats will always be able to use such evasive legalisms.
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