Quote:
Originally Posted by Lebell
It seemed appropriate to quote you.
Yes, I actually believe what I said, and feel much the same about what you said.
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Much about what I said? I'm confused now. About Vietnam?
As far as I know, very few realistic people believe the Vietnam war could ever have been won. There are many many cases where such wars have proven unwinable [sp?].
Vietnam itself.
Afghanistan (the original Russian invasion)
Two Russian invasions of Chechnya
Iraq (today)
Peninsular War (where the term guerilla was born)
etc
etc
When the native population of the country are against an occupying force, and do not fight in standard military doctrine, you simply
can not "win". That's been proven so many times.
The one time the Vietnamese fought in standard military actions (the Tet Offensive of 1968) they were soundly defeated by the US. But America still lost the war. And you think Johnson had his hands tied? Was illegally bombing the shit out of Laos not enough? Blitzing Hanoi not enough? Killing thousands of innocent civilians not enough?
What more would you have done to proffer the American services a glorious victory?
Mr Mephisto