We're going to re-fight the Vietnam War and get it right this time around?

Yay.

"We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values…."

It isn't Nationalism at all.

I'm about the furthest thing from a Nationalist. But as I said to a pro-War Bushie in the gin-up to the Iraq War -

I truly detest OUR current administration. That doesn't mean I want China to come in here and overthrow it. At that point, I'll be part of the resistance along w/ everybody else. What makes you think Iraq will be that much different?

I always loved this precept (one of the 14 of the order of interbeing):

"Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness."

I love the point "including children" and the qualifier "even education."

Non-violence. I wonder what a comment thread guided by Teacher would be like? How about this precept, the ninth:

"9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of Personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety."

Been thinking about the precepts a lot lately. How I love the mighty Thich.

I posted the link to Vallely and Aquino's "From PSYOPS to MindWar" a few days ago, or rather to Mike Aquino's homepage, but to make it even easier, here is the document itself:

http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/MindWar.pdf

I wonder why no one has mentioned Doug Valentine's very Manchurian Candidate type exposé of McCain as POW, discussed here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn04192008.html

I'd call it a civil war. Giap did.

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict, and, in Vietnam, the American War, occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and its communist allies and the US-supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It concluded with the defeat and dissolution of South Vietnam. For the United States, the war ended in the withdrawal of American troops and the failure of its foreign policy in Vietnam.[5][6]

Over 1.4 million military personnel were killed in the war (only 6 percent were members of the United States armed forces), while estimates of civilian fatalities range up to 2 million. On April 30, 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell to the communist forces of North Vietnam, effectively ending the Vietnam War...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

New post up.

BTW, declassified docs from the 90's show that Kennedy had secret plans for withdrawal. His assassination in Dallas changed all that.

The 1990s saw the gaps in the declassified record on Vietnam filled in—with spring 1963 plans for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces. An initial 1000 man pullout (of the approximately 17,000 stationed in Vietnam at that time) was initiated in October 1963, though it was diluted and rendered meaningless in the aftermath of Kennedy's death. The longer-range plans called for complete withdrawal of U. S. forces and a "Vietnamization" of the war, scheduled to happen largely after the 1964 elections.

The debate over whether withdrawal plans were underway in 1963 is now settled. What remains contentious is the "what if" scenario. What would Kennedy have done if he lived, given the worsening situation in Vietnam after the coup which resulted in the assassination of Vietnamese President Diem?

At the core of the debate is this question: Did President Kennedy really believe the rosy picture of the war effort being conveyed by his military advisors. Or was he onto the game, and instead couching his withdrawal plans in the language of optimism being fed to the White House?

http://www.history-matters.com/vietnam1963.htm

I spoke at a breakfast for over one hour with the elder Honorable Borch Bayh about what you wrote of McNamera. I met, by chance, the former Senator at the farm. Mr Bayh spoke of Johnson etc., in personal conversation at length. No tease you.

I was suffering one of those nasty broken-open war scars.

Mr. Bayh was a guest with his younger "son" by adoption?

It not the banking committee Senator Bayh who is now in politics.

At the time Honorable Birch Bayh was with : Oppenheimer, Wolf, Donnely & Bayh LPP.

It's a long story. W did a B&B for a short time in the Clinton years. It was a gossip job?

A ski slope is nearby.

The B&B idea was short.

My son lives there now.

Mr. Bayh spoke of McNamara sadly.

The whole era was marked by sadness.

Again. Yes. Sad. Hello Mr. Bayh. Remember Michele?

She makes good creamed morel and asparagus soup.

I forgot what I was going to say.

I be a imbecile and have some peas.

Garlic! Peas? Lettuce. Leeks. And Pea Farm.

I appreciate Glenn's scholarship. It helps make clear that McCain is not "Bush-like." He's not interested in the kind of subterfuge Bush used to run his agenda. He's way beyond it.

His intention is clearly to show how war is supposed to be fought. He makes no bones about it--he intends to become Commander-in-Chief and right all those wrongs. He's been carrying it in his belly and his jaw since Nam and anybody not aware of it is a fool.

His presidency won't come without warning. The "outdated" belief has a name that sticks in the craw and labels those who dare utter it subversive. The word is imperialism and the cause is colonialism.

This election is a referendum on whether or not the age of the American empire is to begin in earnest. It makes all this division over the Democratic candidate an exercise in futility. The line has definitely been drawn. The time has come to find out what is in the heart of America