Re: VIRTUAL JFK: Vietnam Had Kennedy Lived

Well, when we exited the cinema to walk to an Italian ice cream cafe in a 
trendy part of my town, I was telling one of my friends that I still 
wasn't very convinced that JFK would have totally removed the troops.

My friend quoted one scene in the do***entary where JFK said that the US 
would get involved militarily if they were attacked or an ally was 
attacked. On that basis, my friend believed that JFK would not have pulled

out of VN.

I then asked, 'But was VN actually attacked?'.


<billclarke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:6b0f610e-35b4-4ace-a9b2-99d48a3598ac@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Apr 29, 5:30 pm, "Gerry Simone" <newdecent...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> See bottom.
>
> <billcla...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:164c0bdf-5795-4d4e-a0c6-e9ee90032ec2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Apr 28, 7:33 pm, "Gerry Simone" <newdecent...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > The Gulf War (forcing back an invader) and Iraq (guerilla/civil war)
are
> > completely different wars.
>
> True but the invasion part of the Iraq war was as conventional warfare
> as you’ll see. That is easy for the U.S. When that Fool stood on
> that ****p and said mission accomplished I cringed because I knew we
> were just getting started and the hard part was ahead.
>
> Yeah, unfortunately. It's tough when the people really don't want
> democracy or have any hope for it.
>
> > So 300,000 troops would stop the insurgency forever?
> > How long would that take?
>
> They didn’t allow me into the meeting so I don’t know what their
thinking
> was on this. Obviously we didn’t have enough troops to secure the
> capital, much less the country side. This isn’t a matter of overwhelming
> force but simply of having enough troops to do the job.
>
> > Bear any burden doesn't mean the use of force unless one is attacked
and
> > that there is a clear and present danger.
>
> Are we speaking of Iraq or Vietnam?
>
> Could be both.
>
> > JFK is also quoted in this movie as saying that force would only be
used
> > if the US or its allies were attacked.
>
> South Vietnam was an ally and they were certainly attacked.
>
> Were they attacked after the U.S. bombed North Vietnam/Hanoi?
>

In 1959 the communist big dogs decided to begin armed operations in
South Vietnam.  The 10,000 stay behinds (the first violation of the
Geneva Accords btw) were down to 2,500 at this time and had been
begging the north to allow them armed operations.  The North also
begin sending down the 80,000 or so communist that had gone north
after the Accords.  I don’t know if you would call it an invasion
since they once lived in the South but it of course changed the nature
of the war.

The first intact NVA units moved into SVN in 1964, before the Tokin
Gulf incident and before the U.S. bombing campaign begin.

Bill Clarke