European views on American involvement in the Vietnam war.

[CountDeMoney]

Ed protests too much. Deep down he wants to be the worst kind of European. French

At least they'll get their hands dirty.

No shit.  God Bless the French.  They're like little Americans.  Little, pissy Americans.  But at least they like their wet ops.

[derspiess]

[Hansmeister]

In my experience the average european knows less about the Vietnam war than the average American. And the average American knows very little and what they know is wrong.

[derspiess]

Hans!

[Jacob]

In my experience the average european knows less about the Vietnam war than the average American. And the average American knows very little and what they know is wrong.

Sounds about right

[Hansmeister]

Hans!

In the flesh.  Well, not really.

[Ed Anger]

Speaking of Vietnam, I always found wargames on the war to be boring. Either a bug hunt in a map of green, or too much crap to deal with on a strategic level.

Except the air portion.

[mongers]

Hans!

In the flesh.  Well, not really.

Hey, Hans hows it going ?

We need some of your 'coverage' of the presidential campaign. 

[derspiess]

Speaking of Vietnam, I always found wargames on the war to be boring. Either a bug hunt in a map of green, or too much crap to deal with on a strategic level.

Except the air portion.

Conflict in Vietnam was solid-- for the 80s anyway.  The Dien Bien Phu mission was lame, but the others were really good. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

In my experience the average european knows less about the Vietnam war than the average American. And the average American knows very little and what they know is wrong.

An excellent and succinct analysis 

[Hansmeister]

Hans!

In the flesh.  Well, not really.

Hey, Hans hows it going ?

We need some of your 'coverage' of the presidential campaign. 

Things are going quite well, particularly since I left the last FOB where I spent a month receiving 107mm rocket arty everyday, while we never returned fire since we might accidentally hit a civilian.  I got three more weeks until I pop smoke.

I'm not sure what got me thinking about responding to a thread about Vietnam. A war that seems to never end, in a country on the other side of the world, in order to back up a hopelessly corrupt govt and a military that won't fight against a ruthless, radical enemy supported by a hostile neighboring country that we are reluctant to confront.

As far as the presidential campaign, it is unfolding as I expected. As I stated months ago in another thread Romney will win by a comfortable margin. All the indicators have long pointed in that direction.

[Hansmeister]

Speaking of Vietnam, I always found wargames on the war to be boring. Either a bug hunt in a map of green, or too much crap to deal with on a strategic level.

Except the air portion.

The problem is that the Vietnam war is more a political war than a kinetic war, so a traditional war game model simply doesn't work at capturing the conflict.

[Martinus]

This campaign has done nothing for Poland, which was overrun before it even began. Now, again, noone blames you for "not dying for Danzig" but don't expect gratitude.

You know, I don't recall French troops pouring over the Rhine or the Royal Navy sortieing to draw out the fleet at Kiel on September 2nd, 1939, either.

And how does this support Barrister's claim that the UK (and Canada) "defended Poland" in 1939?

[Martinus]

This campaign has done nothing for Poland, which was overrun before it even began. Now, again, noone blames you for "not dying for Danzig" but don't expect gratitude.

You know, I don't recall French troops pouring over the Rhine or the Royal Navy sortieing to draw out the fleet at Kiel on September 2nd, 1939, either.

Or the Poles helping the Czechs out instead of helping themselves to Zaolzie.

And how does this support Barrister's claim that the UK (and Canada) "defended Poland" in 1939?

[Martinus]

This campaign has done nothing for Poland, which was overrun before it even began. Now, again, noone blames you for "not dying for Danzig" but don't expect gratitude.

You know, I don't recall French troops pouring over the Rhine or the Royal Navy sortieing to draw out the fleet at Kiel on September 2nd, 1939, either.

Or the Poles helping the Czechs out instead of helping themselves to Zaolzie.

Yes, it's often forgotten that Poland was an unpleasant right wing military dictatorship, that didn't get along with its neighbour and iirc event enacted some anti-Semitic legislation in 38.

No one expect the Poles to last more than a couple of months against the Germans, and the Poles only hoped for 3 months, that was assuming they conducted a organised fighting retreat into a Polish redoubt, the plan was then the winter weather and 'something' turning up would save them.

AAnd how does this support Barrister's claim that the UK (and Canada) "defended Poland" in 1939?