In a message dated 9/15/2001 3:16:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
bunnyoncoke@xxxxxxxxx writes:
> In opposition the NLF and NVA
> simply obscured this representational map, blurred the
> categorical distinctions necessary to the restrictive
> narrative economy of the panoptic gaze."
When theoretical gobbledy-gook and empirically substantiated historical
events get together, we are really in trouble. The political decisionism
enacted in Vietnam can hardly be attributed to the NLF/NVA. Most of the
other comments you are making are not applicable to the causes and sources of
events. I think that you are not aware of the actual circumstances.
Imagine, if you can, hundreds of air-sorties and infantry-missions every
month for years in which the US wins almost all of them and the typical death
toll ratio is about 1 US to 12 VC, and that is a conservative estimate. Why
do you suppose that we didn't win? The answer is political, just as we
refused to "takeover" Germany, Japan, Korea, or Babylon/Iraq, we did not
takeover Vietnam. You can read about all of the reasoning you like for this
decision, but if you were stationed in Vietnam and not allowed to follow-up
your battles with pursuit of the enemy, and instead had to hold a defensive
position, time after time, how would you feel. The soldiers were prevented
from winning by their own government.
As for the draft, I am sure that real soldiers do NOT want any draftees
around when they go into a battle. Probably, the politicians will expect
draftees to serve as support stateside by shipping supplies. Many people
have a misconception about US soldiers in Vietnam. They think that the
soldiers were draftees and didn't want to be there, didn't want to fight. On
the contrary, most soldiers did want to be there and asked to go. If you
think about it, an Infantry company in the bush against VC MUST have
experienced soldiers who can and want to fight. Any crying draftees would
not even be permitted into their company. However, it is true that the
average age of the Vietnam soldier was very young, around 19, and therefore
very green, so that there may be a perception that US troops were considered
vulnerable, but the problem of morale in Vietnam was due mostly to government
politics which forbade an allout attack against the enemy.
V.
bunnyoncoke@xxxxxxxxx writes:
> In opposition the NLF and NVA
> simply obscured this representational map, blurred the
> categorical distinctions necessary to the restrictive
> narrative economy of the panoptic gaze."
When theoretical gobbledy-gook and empirically substantiated historical
events get together, we are really in trouble. The political decisionism
enacted in Vietnam can hardly be attributed to the NLF/NVA. Most of the
other comments you are making are not applicable to the causes and sources of
events. I think that you are not aware of the actual circumstances.
Imagine, if you can, hundreds of air-sorties and infantry-missions every
month for years in which the US wins almost all of them and the typical death
toll ratio is about 1 US to 12 VC, and that is a conservative estimate. Why
do you suppose that we didn't win? The answer is political, just as we
refused to "takeover" Germany, Japan, Korea, or Babylon/Iraq, we did not
takeover Vietnam. You can read about all of the reasoning you like for this
decision, but if you were stationed in Vietnam and not allowed to follow-up
your battles with pursuit of the enemy, and instead had to hold a defensive
position, time after time, how would you feel. The soldiers were prevented
from winning by their own government.
As for the draft, I am sure that real soldiers do NOT want any draftees
around when they go into a battle. Probably, the politicians will expect
draftees to serve as support stateside by shipping supplies. Many people
have a misconception about US soldiers in Vietnam. They think that the
soldiers were draftees and didn't want to be there, didn't want to fight. On
the contrary, most soldiers did want to be there and asked to go. If you
think about it, an Infantry company in the bush against VC MUST have
experienced soldiers who can and want to fight. Any crying draftees would
not even be permitted into their company. However, it is true that the
average age of the Vietnam soldier was very young, around 19, and therefore
very green, so that there may be a perception that US troops were considered
vulnerable, but the problem of morale in Vietnam was due mostly to government
politics which forbade an allout attack against the enemy.
V.