Saturday, October 05, 2013
A Tip of the Hat to Give Proper Respect to a Worthy Adversary
Vo Nguyen Giap has died. Verses of Kipling's Fuzzy Wuzzy keep running around my interior. I agree that he was the architect of the Viet Minh's defeat of the French to end that 8 year war (I'm unclear how much he is to be credited for destruction of Groupement Mobile 100 in the central highlands in 1954, the second of the one two punch (with Dien Bien Phu) to drop the French). He was also the architect of the seemingly disastrous Tet Offensive in our 8 year war there. The VC were rendered combat ineffective for the rest of the war by this stand and fight strategy and we absolutely stomped them and the hoped for general uprising in the South never came within a mile of happening. But the American media gave this defeat for the Vietnamese Communist just the sort of coverage that turned it into a Phyrric Victory, as we suddenly lost the stomach to go the real distance to enforce the Truman Doctrine. Despite our winning the war and getting a peace treaty signed by the enemy, Democrats stabbed the South Vietnamese in the back and threw away our hard fought victory; and the source of that desire was Giap's Tet plan.
Then the real suffering started. However, despite his willingness to take horrendous casualties, his horrible politics and the good fortune our press gave to turn his worst mistake into victory, he was a first class fighting man.
Well done, on that score. RIP.
Then the real suffering started. However, despite his willingness to take horrendous casualties, his horrible politics and the good fortune our press gave to turn his worst mistake into victory, he was a first class fighting man.
Well done, on that score. RIP.
Labels: Viet Nam War History; General Giap
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 9:45 AM 
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"...threw away our hard fought victory;
...
Then the real suffering started."
As the U.S. has done in Afghanistan and Iraq by [publicly] setting withdrawal deadlines and failing to achieve adequate SOFAs with sufficient combat troops to support continuing stability and civilian security. ...to give enough time to the attempt to change tribal culture and corrupt governance.
What's that about first iteration being tragedy, the second farce?
...
Then the real suffering started."
As the U.S. has done in Afghanistan and Iraq by [publicly] setting withdrawal deadlines and failing to achieve adequate SOFAs with sufficient combat troops to support continuing stability and civilian security. ...to give enough time to the attempt to change tribal culture and corrupt governance.
What's that about first iteration being tragedy, the second farce?
# posted by 
: 12:50 PM
: 12:50 PM
Apparently the only foreign policy Democrats know is to flub the end game after a hard fought, successful war.
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