Fabs
Posts: 444
Joined: 6/5/2000
From: London, U.K.
Status: offline
|
I disagree with Chris McDee about American tactics. The American Army picked things up very quickly once it became involved in North Africa, and even in Tunisia gave the Germans something to think about.
Given the evident lack of grasp of the facts that he shows, perhaps he should have adopted a less abrasive approach.
As far as Vietnam is concerned, I was one of few European young people that actually welcomed the American involvement there, and was sad and disappointed to see them lose.
They got in to do a difficult job, and they did not see it through.
However I have little sympathy for the argument that goes "our Military was brilliant, it was the politicians and the media that scewed up".
The President is also the Supreme Commander.
It would be invidious to second guess Johnson and later Nixon, they were handling a very complex situation, with implications that went beyond just what was happening in Vietnam.
However, in the end, their conduct of the war did not lead to an American victory, and the manner of the American disengagement is one of the less proud episodes of American history.
As far as the body count is concerned, there are many ways to interpret the figures, and some of them do not reflect well on the US.
The North Vietnamese and the VC were willing to sacrifice 4m lives to gain control of the whole country. The US lost 56k men, and decided that the heat was too great. How many South Vietnamese died?
This is just a different way to look at it. I don't support it, but it just shows that facts mean different things to different people depending on where they stand.
In other postings American members have been quite hard when judging other nations and their poor performance at different times in the war. I guess perspectives change when failure is closer to home.
Eisenhower was given the top job because America was by then making the major contribution to the war effort.
As a diplomat, politician and organiser of one of the greatest human enterprises, he gets full marks from me.
I am less convinced of his merits as a tactician. At the level he was, they were not the skills required.
Patton was in my opinion the most brilliant of the Allied generals. He had panache, and real flair. He was also a ****ly SOB, and his feud with Montgomery (another difficult character)is well documented.
The last time that England won an engagement bigger than the Falklands escapes me.
British forces (English+Scottish), with Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans, whipped the Germans and the Italians on their own at El Alamein under Montgomery.
That can not be taken away from them.
As far as weight of responsibility for militarily defeating the Germans, it is the Red Army that played by far the most important role.
I can not understand the bad feeling between the British and the Americans that was so evident throughout the campaigns of 1943-1945.
So much petty squabbling cost time and lives so often. Neither side seems prepared to give proper weight to the other's contribution. It is still going on.
I can't see the parallel between Vietnam and Northern Ireland. They seem to me to be totally different situations. There were no American citizens living in large numbers in Vietnam and Vietnam was not an American State. I am also not aware of the British having lost in Northern Ireland.
As for giving up the Empire, I applaud the British for the way in which they managed their disengagement, made necessary because their position as an imperial power was no longer economically sustainable, in a comparatively bloodless and civilized way.
Other empires have collapsed far more violently.
America is now the dominating world power. History will judge whether it will perform the role better or worse than those who came before.
------------------
Fabs
[This message has been edited by Fabs (edited 07-08-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Fabs (edited 07-08-2000).]
_____________________________
Fabs
|
Printable Version
US Army with Tactics??? - 
- 
- 
- 
- 
WB
------------------
In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games
- 
hehe...
Haupt
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread