Iraqi Village Disappears....Where did the People Go?

[Felix_Nietzsche]

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/...d-children.htm
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/webl...p;only&rss

Check out the pics in his gallery to see what happen to the Iraqi village.
Al Qaeda is adopting Viet Cong tactics. Those of you who are too young to know about Vietnam, the US strategy was to win the hearts-and-minds. The Viet Cong strategy was to terrorize the people into cooperating. We know which technique was more effective....

The main difference between Iraq and Vietname terror tactics is Al Qaeda is largely foreigners (Saudis, Yemenis, Gypos, etc...) and in Vietnam it was fellow Vietnamese during the terrorizing... Iraqis have a some sense of national identity and these terror tactics are back-firing as shown by Sunni Shieks joining the USA/UK to fight Al Qaeda...

[Nielsio]

I know for a fact that US soldiers slaugtered an entire village during Vietnam. They were ordered to do so. Every single person.

[owsley]

So Iraq has turned into another vietnam and we are royally [censored]. Suplise!

[andyfox]

The problem was, in Vietnam, that the Diem and Thieu administrations used terror to get the people to cooperate. As did the United States. After all, we dropped more bombs than were dropped in prior history on South Vietnam, the place we were supposed to be defending; we destroyed villages in order to "save" them. Not a great strategy for winning hearts and minds.

Jeffrey Race's book War Comes to Long An goes a long way toward explaining why the Communists won in Vietnam. It wasn't because of terror. At least not theirs.

[andyfox]

I note that one of the links says, "a horrifying story of radical Islamic depravity, ignored by a Western media that focuses exclusively on Western transgressions." I'm a mainstream media guy and I know a lot about radical Islamic depravity. They don't operate in my name with my tax dollars.

[cpk]

Little Green Footballs?! LOL. There's an unbiased source.

[2/325Falcon]

Michael Yon's blog is mandatory reading for anyone who cares about what's happening in Iraq today.

[andyfox]

"The Viet Cong strategy was to terrorize the people into cooperating."

Here is what a hamlet chief, appointed by the Diem government, the government we supported, said about his village in 1959:

"The Vietcong were very smart. If they knew that Binh's family had been ill-treated by the government, they would work on that weak point. Perhaps Binh had had money extorted by an official--in his heart he had to feel resentment. So they would come by from time to time and say, "You see how bad the government is, it calls itself nationalist, but in the end it steals your money . Are you just going to do nothing?" So, like fanning a flame, Binh's resentment would grow to anger, and his anger to hatred, and his hatred to revolt. Or maybe Xoai would be building a house. The Vietcong would come by and help him put it up, meanwhile talking about their life--no pay, living in the swamps, being shot at all the time. Naturally, Xoai would take pity on them, so the next time they came by and asked for a meal, he would invite them in. But when they took a meal it was not like our soldiers' way: burst in, demand food, sit around while it was being fixed, eat, and finally grab a couple of chickens and run off. Instead, the VC would go into the kitchen, clean the rice, and while they were waiting for it to cook, they would sweep the house, wash the dishes, and set the table. When the meal was over, they would clean up, and then thank everyone politely. So the owner of the house would think, 'The [government] soldiers come in here as if they owned the place, but this other fellow is very polite and helps me out'. Naturally, he let the Vietcong eat at his house all the time. That is how the Vietcong gained the people's support. They simply built on the opportunity we gave them."

A government National Assembly candidate:

"The election was very dishonest. Information and Civic Action cadres went around at noon when everyone was home napping and stuffed the ballot boxes. If the results still didn't come out right they were adjusted at district headquarters. [Didn't anyone complain?] Everyone was terrified of the government. For example, the principal of the local school failed to campaign "actively" for the government candidate. He was reprimanded severely and transferred somewhere else, and his family got in a lot of trouble too. [Was there torture?] Of course there was. The Cong An beat people and used the 'water treatment'. [The "water treatment" consisted of forcing water down a person's throat or else holding his head under water.] But there was nothing anyone could do. Everyone was too terrified."



"We know which technique was more effective."

Indeed.

[GoodCallYouWin]

What about about bombing South Vietnam in 1952 at the behest of the French was intended to win their hearts and minds?

[Felix_Nietzsche]

Ahhhhhh.....You Speak of John F Kerry and his confessed attrocities after joining the anti-Vietnam War movement. Yes, we all know Kerry is a scumbag.

The fact the American Democrat party accepts/elects such a person to their party speaks volumes about them.