[Imc] Talk on the US military, etc.

[John Wason]

At 06:53 PM 10/29/2001 -0600, C. G. Estabrook wrote:

>"We might take a lesson from how, after horrendous killing, the US was
>forced to stop the war in Vietnam.  There were three principal reasons:
>[1] the courageous resistance of the Vietnamese people; [2] the revolt of
>the American military in Vietnam; and [3] the slow but effective growth of
>awareness of the nature of the war and opposition to it in the US.  By the
>end of the war, 80% of the US public agreed in polls that the war was not
>simply mistaken but immoral, not a blunder but a crime.
>
>"In the case of the present war, tragically, we can count on reason [1]. A
>major assault on the Middle East by the US is nothing short of the answer
>to Bin Laden's prayers.  It will produce resistance from those whom the US
>has oppressed and exploited throughout the region.
>
>"But [2] will not be much of a factor.  The US learnt in Southeast Asia
>(as the French had learnt there before) that a colonial war can't be
>fought for long with conscript troops.  For every Phoenix-program
>terrorist like ex-senator Bob Kerrey, slitting the throats of
>non-combatants, there were a dozen American draftees that refused to go
>into the jungle.  This was the army that invented "fragging" (rolling a
>fragmentation grenade under the bunk of a gung-ho officer) and finally had
>to be withdrawn.  So the US went to a "volunteer" military (an economic
>draft, to be sure).  And then we have the "Powell Doctrine" -- a war crime
>as stated -- "Only attack weak enemies and do it from the air, targeting
>civilians and infrastructure, so you don't lose troops."  Under these
>conditions, the US military is "reliable," as it wasn't in Vietnam thirty
>years ago.
>
>"So it comes down to [3] -- telling the truth and shaming the devil, as
>Hotspur says.  The Pentagon and the putative president have announced that
>this will be the most secret war ever.  It won't be secret from those whom
>the US attacks, but, yes, it has to be secret from those our government
>fears most -- the US public.  Our opposition to Bush's killing can be
>constructed around the fact that people are not fools.  As in Vietnam,
>when the American people come to know what is being done in their name,
>they are horrified."

This is a pretty cogent analysis, Carl.  Unfortunately, even though YOU have
learned something from history, you're condemned to repeat it right along
with all the other moronic, evil motherfuckers who either (a) learned
nothing, or (b) learned the wrong things.  It's hell being prescient and in
such a tiny minority, isn't it?

John