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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9klk7iSCII
McCain:
"Congressmen, we never lost a battle in Vietnam. It was American public opinion that forced us to lose that conflict."
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The Vietnam War was never about "winning battles". The notion of a battlefield covering a specific area and of a battle lasting speficic hours or days was obsolete long before the first American advisor set foot in Vietnam. The exception which was
Dien Bien Phu came about because of French stupidity - which the Americans later duplicated with gusto.
Late in that war, the U.S. Marines finally formulated the correct approach for it, by using small units in long-term, deep-range engagements -- and they started to seriously, finally, putting a dent on Charlie. It's indicative that the North Vietnamese demanded when the peace talks started for the Marine operations to cease.
Charlie was right in wanting his country free from foreigners. (Charlie was not fighting for the dictatorship of the proletariat!) And Charlie was right in his battle methods. I'm glad Charlie won the war.
There is now very little to stop a total
rapprochement between Ho Chi Minh and Washington. Except for the pair of nincompoops at the White House.
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No war is about winning the battles, but no war is won without winning battles. And no political victory between warring factions can be won without military victory first.