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“Franklin’s negotiations, and the victory at Saratoga”*

Which we won without ANY French help. Like I said, France was bringing treats to the party when it was already winding down. As for my alleged lack of knowledge about history, you can go to hell.

You said Yorktown, now you're saying Saratoga. Four years is forever in a war. And that begs the question of the Caribbean campaign. I'd say my assessment of your historical knowledge was spot on.

And I'm not going to hell on your or anyone else's say-so, and certainly not for telling the truth about your education or lack thereof.

“Franklin’s negotiations, and the victory at Saratoga”*

Which we won without ANY French help.

Tell me again, how we won Franklin's negotiations without any French help.

Can you point me to an order of battle for Saratoga, with the disposition and location of the nearest Continental, British, Hessian, Indian, and French troops? How about their supply lines?

As for my alleged lack of knowledge about history, you can go to hell.

Back it up. What classes have you attended on history, from which University? What were your grades?

Name the last three books you have read on history, how long ago you read them, and who were their authors?

(Hint: strategic geopolitical considerations often involve more than direct military assistance: but sometimes, even the *possibility* of forthcoming assistance changes the calculus for the other players. This is why "statements" and "declarations" matter. Given that we have a (battle-tested) force in theatre in Iraq, and remain a superpower, Iran has to be looking nervously at what we *could* do. (If they couldn't defeat Iraq in eight years, while we went through Iraq's army like wet Kleenex, how hard would it be for us to take out the Mullahs -- they don't care about chaos in the country for its own sake, after we've removed them or killed them, you know.)

And the presence of the counter-demonstrators, and the remarks of some of the oppressors (as in a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276243/posts">this thread ("“I have children, I have a wife, I don’t want to beat people. Please go home.”), show that there is not the market for the same counter-insurgency as in Iraq: indeed, Iran is the *source* of many of the Iraq "insurgents" -- if their home base is destroyed, what do they do?

Nice try though.

Cheers!