Vietnam II Checklist...

[headscratcher4]

Ok, I saw this on a blog...it is biased and has undobted inaccuracies (indeed, it plays to my disposition)...it is offered for the sake of HUMOR and because there are enough "truths" that should make many a supporter of the current US Policy in Iraq think (but, I doubt it).

So:

The Vietnam II Preflight Check

By: Author Unknown (but if you know or are the original author please come forward and take a bow! )

1. Cabal of oldsters who won't listen to outside advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicity's of the many locals? Check.
3. National boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakable faith in our superior technology? Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
8. Enemy supply lines unknown? Check.
9. Sec of Def pushing a conflict the Joint Chiefs never wanted? Check.
10. Fear we'll look bad if we back down now? Check.
11. Corrupt corporate Texan in the White House? Check.
12. Land war in Asia? Check.
13. Right-wing unhappy with outcome of previous war? Check.
14. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.
15. Soldiers about to be exposed to our own chemicals? Check.
16. Daily guerrilla attacks that cannot be stopped? Check.
17. Anti-Americanism up sharply in Europe? Check.
18. B-52 bombers? Check.
19. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.
20. Infighting among the branches of the military? Check.
21. Locals that cheer us by day, hate us by night? Check.
22. Local experts ignored? Check.
23. Local politicians ignored? Check.
24. Local conflicts since before the USA has been a country? Check.
25. Much confusion over who and where the enemy is? Check.
26. Against advice, Prez won't use taxes to pay for war? Check.
27. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.
28. Use of nukes hinted at if things don't go our way? Check.
29. War unpopular at home? Check.
30. No plan in place to end involvement? Check.

Vietnam II, you are cleared to taxi.

 

[arcticpenguin]

5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.

Yeah, but aren't those always true?

 

[Samus]

18. B-52 bombers? Check.

Hey, gotta hand it to the BUFF; those things have bombed a lot of stuff over the years, and are still going strong.

 

[Malachi151]

A must read:

How could Vietnam Happen? - 1968

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/68apr/vietnam.htm

 

[Furious]

bah

While I'm skeptical of some of the reasons or emphasis for going to war and this list is definitely an attempt at humor, I take issue with the daily guerilla attacks being even remotely compared to the ones in Vietnam.

To date, we've lost 67 since the May 1st declaration of the end of major hostilities. That's about one death every two days, or I'll even be forgiving and say one every day and a half. Even with a figure of 300 dead for the entire war thus far, works out to two dead a day.

Vietnam had 58,000 casualties over what, 10 years? Works out 15 deaths a day, rounded down.

When the numbers of dead per day get significantly above accidental non-combat death rates or approach the number of elderly in Paris dying due to the heat, I'll start worrying about a military quagmire. Right now it isn't remotely close to that.

And when the hell were nukes ever mentioned?

Now, the points about staying too long in a country whose people don't want us around against the wishes of the American people hasn't come to pass yet , but I imagine after a couple of years it will be a different story.

Would be sweet to see a monk set himself on fire over the war. That would be an awesome addition to the checklist.

 

[Crossbow]

Re: bah

While I'm skeptical of some of the reasons or emphasis for going to war and this list is definitely an attempt at humor, I take issue with the daily guerilla attacks being even remotely compared to the ones in Vietnam.

To date, we've lost 67 since the May 1st declaration of the end of major hostilities. That's about one death every two days, or I'll even be forgiving and say one every day and a half. Even with a figure of 300 dead for the entire war thus far, works out to two dead a day.

Vietnam had 58,000 casualties over what, 10 years? Works out 15 deaths a day, rounded down.

When the numbers of dead per day get significantly above accidental non-combat death rates or approach the number of elderly in Paris dying due to the heat, I'll start worrying about a military quagmire. Right now it isn't remotely close to that.

And when the hell were nukes ever mentioned?

Now, the points about staying too long in a country whose people don't want us around against the wishes of the American people hasn't come to pass yet , but I imagine after a couple of years it will be a different story.

Would be sweet to see a monk set himself on fire over the war. That would be an awesome addition to the checklist.

Well, US involvement in the Vietnam lasted alot more than ten years, but most of the killing of US personnell occurred over a ten year period.

However, there was a bombing at a mosque this morning that killed 75. While perhaps not as dramatic as one person buring themself to death, is it that enough death to satisfy your needs?

 

[Tmy]

If Jane Fonda hops a plane to Tikrit then we are in trouble!!

 

[American]

Obnoxious America-haters who need to be clubbed by riot police- nowhere to be found. (San Francisco, New York, and Seattle don't count.)

 

[Nately]

Clever, but the attempt was hopefully more towards humor than accuracy.

4. Unshakable faith in our superior technology? Check.

The superior technology was certainly used during the war, but there hasn't been much of use of it since then. This part has been almost entirely Humvee's and M-16s.

6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.

I don't think there was anything secret about Russian and Chinese desires during the Vietnam War.

8. Enemy supply lines unknown? Check.
They were pretty well known during the Vietnam War, they just couldn't be effectively shut down. I doubt the Iraqis are getting much in the way of external supplies. The leftovers from their military are enough to sustain their relatively low-scale insurgence for some time.

14. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.
Maybe, but nothing like Vietnam and its jungles and rugged mountains. If the Iraqi insurgents tried cross-border movements at the scale of Vietnam, they'd find themselves the lucky recipients of many a cluster bomb.

15. Soldiers about to be exposed to our own chemicals? Check.
Huh?

18. B-52 bombers? Check.
During the war, yes. I'd be surprised if any were still in the area at this point.

19. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.
Dust and Vietnam are not two words that I put together regularly. Something about their monsoons that I remember...

20. Infighting among the branches of the military? Check.
Not sure what this is referencing for modern day.

27. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.
The Navy really isn't much involved anymore. Don't see the relevance now.

28. Use of nukes hinted at if things don't go our way? Check.
Don't remember this happening lately.

There's plenty of points you can make on the situation in Iraq, but the whole Vietnam comparison tends to be made by people who don't have much knowledge of the details but want to sound all sophisticated in a retro-60s sorta way. Maybe this was written months ago; that might explain some of the points.