Respect. Australian Soldiers.

[turboplanner]

Did the Yanks stop the Japs in PNG? No , we did with our troops.

Sorry they were under US command.

[John Robert]

The citizens of every country are entitled to make changes to their political system. If that is by a civil war then that is of their own choice. This war was the same as the Korean war with the US interfering in the affairs of another country. They also lost that one & to this day are demonizing North Korea for their determination to develop weapons to defend them selves. There punishment for not copying the flawed US democratic system is the most stringent trade sanctions ever placed on any country. If I was a North Korean & subject to those sanctions & the constant threat from such a mighty & aggressive army I would be trying to produce the most potent weapons to defend myself. If Korea had been left to choose her own destination her own citizens would have modified the political system to reflect the changes that have occurred throughout the communist countries.

The people of a country will if given time sort out & become what they choose to be. It is not the role of the most powerful country to try & force their system on others. Our own country is following the aggressor in the hope that we will get protection from " the other side ". We should be developing our own nuclear defense system which would be a lot less costly than the inappropriate weapons we are being pushed to buy from the US. We are an Island, all we need are guided intercontinental missiles with nasty dirty nuclear warheads in big numbers to defend our selves from any invader. That includes the US who have for many years interfered in our political system.

John Roberts

[facthunter]

They will only help us next time if and when it suites them like LAST time. An independent "Reliable Broker" would be better all round for stability and ethics, Being an Rslicker wont guarantee much and you give too much ethically in the meantime. Trump regards himself as the leader of the world, with the vote of a miniscule fraction. Breaks agreements unilaterally does anything HE feels like. I wonder how Trump supporters would feel (and VOTE) IF they had a 5 year L ucrative job YOU can't refuse but HAVE to take your wife and family with you, overseas . and have to WEAR the madness that is Trump but on the other end of the stick away from the false sense of security the US has within it's borders. and it's unreal sense of self reinforcement it thrives on.. It's really is US V/s the REST in cooperation and trade or anything else because it's so uncertain. He doesn't know what he's going to do next much less the rest of us. Nev

[Litespeed]

USA command had bugger all in the fight. That was a case of the Yanks demanding full control for so called help.

[Litespeed]

With Trumpet at the helm we see the a blatant egotistical sociopath who will happily see even millions die and say it was a " great deal".

 

Its the natural consequence of a long history of dysfunctional governance based on exceptionalism.

 

Our great powerful " friend" is

mad and completely psychotic in a fight to retain power. He will use anything including he threat of war to win.

 

Beware

 

We live in interesting times.

[onetrack]

The Vietnam War was the greatest military disaster ever undertaken by the Americans - and it initially started because the Americans backed Ngo Dinh Diem, the corrupt, despotic leader of South Vietnam from 1955.

 

The U.S. backed Ngo Dinh Diem, because he was Catholic and the Americans thought Diem was the best hope for overturning a Communist takeover of South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese were initially reluctant to start a war in the South, because they suspected that by doing so, it would mean American intervention.

 

But Diem turned out to be worse than any Communist or Revolutionary terrorist - he constantly murdered the Buddhists, harrassed them, and made their lives unliveable.

Unfortunately, only 10% of SVN was Catholic, the Buddhists made up about 60% of the SVN population. Then the Buddhists started self-immolating in protest (I can remember these events well, and I wasn't yet a teenager when this happened).

 

But Diem and his nasty piece of work of a wife, only got worse and worse. Madame Diem referred to the Buddhists self-immolations as "barbecues", such was her lack of humanity.

Ngo Dinh Diem was finally overthrown by his own troops, and executed. He and his wife were hated beyond belief in the South. But John F. Kennedy had already sent U.S. troops to SVN in May 1961, no doubt due to Catholic support.

 

Things just went from bad to worse, and then JFK was assassinated, only 20 days after Diem was executed. Lyndon B. Johnson ramped up the troop numbers in SVN, on the basis of the false Gulf of Tonkin incidents, and then commenced all out war from there. The Gulf of Tonkin incidents were on a par with Saddams "Weapons of Mass Destruction" - pure fabrication.

 

It's rumoured that LBJ was merely a puppet of the Military-Industrial Complex in America, and LBJ was also reported as having major ties to the contractors, Brown & Root, who secured massive U.S. Govt contracts in Vietnam.

 

Brown & Root were well named, they bent the U.S. Govt over and reamed them in every orifice. Massive overcharging on contracts, huge losses of materials (which the U.S. Govt had paid for), and dodgy accounting were just a few examples of the Brown & Root rorting of the U.S. Govt.

 

Johnson was a warmonger in the best U.S. fashion - but the problem was, he was not skilled as a leader, and the U.S. troops were unprepared for a guerilla war, and gung-ho in their application of force.

The U.S. troops couldn't distinguish between friend and foe, and considered all "Gooks" as sub-standard people, to be shot on a random basis, with little interest as to whether they supported the Americans or not.

 

Add in General William C. Westmoreland, one of the most incompetent military leaders the U.S. has ever seen - and then add a politically-driven War policy, of utter idiocy, that involved no taking of land, in any military fighting action.

The very basis of War is to fight for, take, and secure land areas. But the Americans would fight on a patch of turf, then retreat to their fortified bases - and do the same thing again, the next day!

 

Then the American troops were so badly trained and led, they killed and injured hundreds, and possibly thousands, of their own men, in their so-called "friendly fire" incidents. No proper record was ever kept, of FF incidents.

 

If you want a prime example of how not to run a War, then Vietnam has to be the outstanding example. The worst part is, the Australians had the VC and NVA under control, and largely neutered in Phuoc Tuy Province by 1971 - but all that was thrown away, when Sir William McMahon ended the Australian Forces commitment to SVN in late 1971, under pressure from anti-Vietnam War protesters.

[kgwilson]

The worst part is, the Australians had the VC and NVA under control, and largely neutered in Phuoc Tuy Province by 1971 - but all that was thrown away, when Sir William McMahon ended the Australian Forces commitment to SVN in late 1971, under pressure from anti-Vietnam War protesters.

And a good thing it was too. I was an anti Vietnam war protester from the beginning including my time in the Territorial forces in NZ. Totally unjust and completely unfounded from day 1 but the McCarthyism era ridiculous Domino theory was fed to the yanks who lapped it up with amazing fervour & we in the Antipodes went along for the ride.

 

In 1975 on my overland trip home from Europe I decided to go to Laos, then a Kingdom. Bussed from Bangkok to Nong Kai & over to Vientienne by boat. Beautiful people, fine French food & wine & within 2 days the King had abdicated to Thailand, his brother, head of the Pathet Lao communists took over and the border was closed. A knock on my Hotel door the next morning was met with 2 teenagers with AK47s slung over their shoulders almost as big as they were and an interpreter who bowed, apologised and told me Brothels were now closed but I was free to stay and enjoy Vientienne. Bit hard not to as I couldn't get out anyway. I got a flight to Hanoi for $US50.00 return & was astounded at the friendliness and hospitality shown by the Hanoi locals. Evidence of the bombing was everywhere but no-one showed any animosity to me when I could easily have been taken as an American. It was a magic time in a scarred city although I've never been back.