| To: greenspirit who wrote (85622) | 3/31/2003 9:52:57 PM | | From: Bilow | | | | Hi Michael D. Cummings; Re: "Carl, you're so fixated on Vietnam it has blinded you."
I have a military library of around 2000 books. Damn few of them are on Vietnam.
Re: "This will be no Vietnam."
I agree. The problem is that if I compare this to conflicts that the herd is even less familiar with than Vietnam, my comments go completely over their heads. The recorded history of war on this planet is many thousands of years old. It didn't start in 1966. Human nature is unchanged over that recorded history. That's why it was so easy to predict that the Afghans would welcome us with parades while the Iraqis would shoot at us.
Re: "This is not the Vietnam military, it's far better trained, better equipped and better led."
(1) Saddam's military is better than the Vietcong.
(2) Our military is so good mostly because it is a volunteer force. Unfortunately, the nature of the Iraqi conflict is such that we don't have a large enough volunteer force to deal with the problem. In Vietnam, we had the assistance of the ARVN, but we have no corresponding ally in Iraq. The British are not likely to follow the massive reinforcements we'll have to do. The end result is that in order to stay in Iraq, we will have to bring back conscription, and that will lower the quality of our forces. But I agree with you, the quality of our armed forces is now the highest it has ever been. This is the peak.
Re: "Those who fixate on one event in history, and fail to see the changing circumstances will look foolish when this is all over."
The Administration's plans were caused by their fixation on the US military successes in Afghanistan and the Gulf war. This blinded them. What you accuse me of is exactly what the Administration has done. Instead of looking at war as a continuous feature of the human race, with thousands of years of history, they only looked at the two most recent conflicts. Their error is already apparent. No flag waving Iraqis.
-- Carl |
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| To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (88459) | 3/31/2003 9:53:09 PM | | From: Ilaine | | | | >>The .pdf files are worth a look. <<
Yeah - I am going to bookmark it and link it to all the bozos who keep spouting the party line, "the US was the major supplier of Iraq's weapons." I knew it was total garbage and #1 was the Soviets. Didn't realize how much of it came from France (#2). Very little from the US.
Of course, the ones that keep repeating the same thing over and over again are too lazy to look at .pdf files, and so annoying they're on Ignore, but I'll save it for when the next young gun comes riding in with blazing saddles.
FAQ: Who was the major supplier of arms to Iraq?
Table here - #1 Soviet Union, %57 of share; #2 France, %13 of share; # 3 China, %12 of share; # 4 Czech Republic, %7 of share; #6 Brazil, %4 of share; # 7 Egypt, %2 of share; # 8 Romania, %1 of share; # 9 Denmark, %1 of share; # 10 Libya, %1 of share; # 11 USA, %1 of share.
projects.sipri.se
projects.sipri.se |
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| To: Clarksterh who wrote (88487) | 3/31/2003 9:53:41 PM | | From: michael97123 | | | | Clark,
I have no idea what the truth is in that particular incident. When i first i heard it, it seemed improbable to have a car full of women and children in a war zone not stopping at a roadblock. Also this was in the South, and i am not certain as to what the rules are about women driving or how much opportunity they have to drive. The good news is that i have sarmad and wine on ignore so i dont have to read their insults. Mike
PS From msnbc “They tried to warn the vehicle to stop; it did not stop,” Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.” “And it was unusual that that vehicle would be full of only women and that the driver was a woman. So we need to find out why it was that they were acting the way they did.”
PPs i stated my reaction to an event i heard on the news at the moment i first heard it because it sounded so improbable. No one wants to minimize tragic loss of life for whatever the reason. I was not making lite of these deaths. I am curious to what the investigation discovers. If it was something different than what it first appears i wonder whether win or sarmad will criticize it. |
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| To: Sun Tzu who wrote (85629) | 3/31/2003 9:54:58 PM | | From: Bilow | | | | Hi Sun Tzu; Re: "There are three major ways to colonize: The way of the Romans, the way of the Persians, and the way of the Vikings."
This is a remarkable comment. I can't believe that I'm the only person replying to you on it. It is my belief that our colonization efforts, if any, should follow the Viking model.
-- Carl |
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| To: Clarksterh who wrote (88486) | 3/31/2003 9:56:55 PM | | From: paul_philp | | | | Clark,
Certainly the author only sees life through the 'Fight the Power' meme. What he doesn't see is that it is a conversation between all sorts of positions and what emerges is the acceptable range of behaviour. A simplistic example is the Rachel Corrie story. Her story went from extreme to extreme before a general consensus emerged.
It's a big topic and I am not doing it justice. Maybe a longer piece later on.
Paul |
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| To: BigBull who wrote (85683) | 3/31/2003 9:59:07 PM | | From: Bilow | | | | Hi BigBull; Re: "A lot will be decided in the next 48 hrs."
That was back on March 24th. Now it's nearly April, but not much has changed.
-- Carl |
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| To: Bilow who wrote (88511) | 3/31/2003 10:01:41 PM | | From: broadstbull | | | | <<<1) Saddam's military is better than the Vietcong.>>>
You're kidding, right? Viet Cong never surrendered in mass groups of 2,000 like Saddam's. They were far more highly motivated. Unlike the Iraqis they were impossible to demoralize. Our enemies in Viet Nam were some of the best soldiers to fight in this century.
<<<In Vietnam, we had the assistance of the ARVN,>>>
Again, you're kidding, right? The Brits helping us right now are 10 times more committed and effective than any Arvin unit ever was. |
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| To: Neeka who wrote (88499) | 3/31/2003 10:06:42 PM | | From: KLP | | | | If this country were nuked...where would the fallout go? Canada? or on west to east to Europe?
And yes, that was precisely my point about our captured soldiers and that they have NOT been able to be seen by the Red Cross..... Where are the other countries in the world on this?
They are all over the shooting of women and children who were in a military zone, and had been told to stop several times, but continued. Do we know yet who the driver was? Or if the women were really women? Were they suicide bombers heading for our soldiers?
Where are our captured soldiers? Have they all been maimed and then murdered now? Why isn't the Red Cross banging down fences and bringing cameras....Where is Amnesty International?
Oh, I forgot....that's just for the others, not the US. |
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| To: Clarksterh who wrote (88509) | 3/31/2003 10:06:46 PM | | From: carranza2 | | | | I was looking at an ancient M1A with rolled steel armor. Duh.
The M1 Abrams armor is a high tech laminate that uses depleted uranium--oh, oh, you can hear the hue and cry already--in its construction. The thickness of the Abrams' armor appears not to be published anywhere I can access.
kithobbyist.com |
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| To: w0z who wrote (85694) | 3/31/2003 10:07:33 PM | | From: Bilow | | | | Hi Bill Tippett; Re: "Anyone seen reports of CIPRO (anthrax treatment) being found in personal kits of Iraqi POW's taken by 3rd Infantry Division?"
The main enemy of the Iraqis is (okay was) Iran. Iran has anthrax (see link), as well as nerve gas, so it's rather natural that Iraqi soldiers would be equipped with the defenses to it.
Countries with anthrax stocks
China
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Libya
North Korea
South Korea
Syria
Taiwan
Russia
news.bbc.co.uk
-- Carl |
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