"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Calif Bill wrote:



We never last a major battle. Was the politicos micro managing the war
into a no win situation. We were not allowed to be the aggressors, only
defenders. And by the time Nixon got in, we had politically lost the
war. And which party was the one setting up the right-wingers? And which
party use to be a party of the working people, the blue collar workers?

The north vietnamese whipped our butts. Stop rationalizing.


That's simply not true Harry. Not to open old wounds, but virtually every
combat vet that survived Vietnam came home frustrated that we fought a
limited, restricted war and were not allowed to "win". Like the Korean
Conflict, a tightrope was walked with fear of starting WWIII and Armageddon.
South Korea was invaded by the North and the UN had a mandate to respond.
The US bore the major responsibility. Vietnam was a similar situation.
Invaded by the North, we were obligated to defend without triggering a full
scale war with China or the Soviet Union.

Interestingly it was a lesson future POTUS's didn't forget. Warfare fought
by the US since Vietnam has been no holds bared and the results are evident.
The US military and the technology it possesses is second to none in the
world. It just isn't designed to be a police force or nation builder.

I just watched the Charlie Wilson story on the History Channel last night.
Interesting guy and details of his activities that were never made public
were presented. Talk about having your ass handed to you .... the Soviet
Union was stomping on Afghanistan big time, slaughtering over a million
defenseless people until we provided US made weapons (Stinger missile)
instead of giving them surplus Russian made equipment. Once the Stingers
arrived, the Soviets went home with their tail between their legs, and they
finally dissolved completely as a government. That hasn't happened to us.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:

Interestingly it was a lesson future POTUS's didn't forget. Warfare fought
by the US since Vietnam has been no holds bared and the results are evident.
The US military and the technology it possesses is second to none in the
world. It just isn't designed to be a police force or nation builder.


The military forces of the United States have not faced a serious
adversary in more than 30 years. We may have the most expensive
technology, but there is at least one country on this earth that would
fight us to a draw in a war on or near its turf, and we wouldn't be able
to throw nukes, because they could toss them right back.

"HK" wrote in message
...
Eisboch wrote:

Interestingly it was a lesson future POTUS's didn't forget. Warfare
fought by the US since Vietnam has been no holds bared and the results
are evident. The US military and the technology it possesses is second to
none in the world. It just isn't designed to be a police force or nation
builder.


The military forces of the United States have not faced a serious
adversary in more than 30 years. We may have the most expensive
technology, but there is at least one country on this earth that would
fight us to a draw in a war on or near its turf, and we wouldn't be able
to throw nukes, because they could toss them right back.


Fortunately for all of us, cool heads have prevailed. The closest we came
was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Eisboch