It's déjà vu all over again. Yes, Vietnam vets had seen it before. "... the administration has underestimated the determination and skill of the enemy, downplayed the danger to U.S. troops and offered overly optimistic predictions that seem blatantly at odds with the grim news Americans see in newspapers and on TV — just like the White House often did during Vietnam." superdave, let's take a deep breath and pray to the almighty god...inhale, exhale.
Anything can look bad when you only talk about the grim. Once again, stop comparing this to Vietnam. By doing so over and over you only paint yourself as a fool's fool.
As opposed as I am to this war, it is NOTHING like Vietnam. If this was a Vietnam situation, we would be losing a hell of alot more than a soldier per day.
I'll say it before Karl Keller, Manny or Ian. USA TODAY IS A CRAPPY AND UNPATRIOTIC LIBERAL RAG!!! Now move along, nothing to see here.
Whilst I can understand Vietnam vets getting a bit twitchy at some of the undeniably resonant aspects of this situation, I have to agree ... this is not yet a Vietnam. And may we all hope to high hell that it does not become one. For a start, we had the good sense to stay out of Vietnam. Whereas this time ...
There are things that happened in Vietnam that are analogous to this war, and we should try to learn from them. The war planning this time around is alot worse, but the opponent more feeble. I still say the violent occupation of the Philippines 100 years ago is a somewhat better analogy that Vietnam. Jacen...this month, we've lost 32 soldiers in 7 days. Even if you "discount" the 16 lost in the Chinook shootdown as an aberration, that's 2 a day. We lost one a day in October. We lost one every two days in September. Are we gonna keep losing 2 a day in November? Is it gonna be 4 a day in December, 8 a day in January? Probably not, but then, 8 weeks ago, I never would have predicted things would be this bad now.
Saying Iraq and Vietnam are similar is about as stupid as saying A dessert and a jungle are similar because the both get hot.
Re: Re: Re: Good morning, Vietnam! Good point. So I will hereby say that Saddam was not Hitler as long as all the anti-war people agree to say Iraq is not Vietnam.
I'll agree with you on that. On the other hand, it would be extremely unwise to fail to recognize that there are aspects of both (Hitler and Vietnam) from which we can learn and apply lessons to the present.
If there is a difference between Iraq and Vietnam, it's that this time a huge section of the American public has been against it from the start, along with even more vocal global protest. In Vietnam, you had a largely compliant and disinterested populace for the first few years of the war, who had no idea of the extent of the lies. Now, we've been quite aware of the lies BEFORE and during a similarly unnecessary and immoral war. There is no way this even becomes another Vietnam, given this fundamental difference. The people won't allow it, thankfully.
Actually the difference is that in Vietnam you had a huge amount of the population who were fighting against the US, whereas in Iraq it is a very small segment.
There is also the fact that Vietnamese women are better looking and they are not forced by their men to cover up their whole body even in 100 degree weather.
http://electroniciraq.net/news/246.shtml Aren't you confusing Iraq with Afghanistan? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1641309.stm
This is nothing like Vietnam. In Vietnam, we were facing an entire nation which was getting near infinite logistical help from Russia. In Iraq we are facing small groups armed with the debis of the previous administration. No, this is more like 1980's Afghanistan. Well, except that the Iraqi government and civil structure are very weak at the moment.
Here is what my answer to that would be: You are a cutie, Thuraya. You're a bit young for me to even think about, but I'd love to talk about your dreams. I would also love to learn more about your country and its rich culture. I hope you believe me when I say that our government doesn't hate you. Give them a chance to help establish a democracy and I think you will see that your country will be better off in the long run. Sorry about the crack about Vietnamese girls being cuter. I was speaking out of ignorance. Good luck in your future. ASF Anyway back to our topic. Here is an interesting analysis of the Iraq vs Vietnam issue: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...e=1&u=/usatoday/20031107/cm_usatoday/11941631
Hey, what do you mean by that? I respect this young lady's muslim values and I have my own values. She is 17, for crying out loud! Now, if she was 21...
What an amazing point. Someone better alert Congress that South Dakota is getting two Senators when, in fact, they are just half a state! Good work in catching those trickster Dakotans!
South Dakota is a state within a country, so is "South Vietnam" (as vs. "North Vietnam") geopolitically decades ago - a "geopolitcal state" within a country called Vietnam. What trickery is there?