Sunday, December 22, 2013

VIETNAM REMEMBERED - The Battle For Historical Truth

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Re-post NamSouth 2010

Mike Scruggs

There are important lessons from the Vietnam War that remain critical to national security, but most of academia, the media, and the political class have got them dead wrong.

The late Harry G. Summers Jr., Colonel of Infantry, and distinguished faculty member of the Army War College, often called people’s attention to the fact that considerable differences in the treatment of the Vietnam War can be seen in the literature published in academia and that published by the veterans who fought it. He also pointed out that even among the combat veterans there are differences according to the time frame of their involvement and the role they played.

Michael Lind, author of Vietnam: The Necessary War (1999), though a self-described liberal, has also observed the ideological bias of academic writers, noting academia’s still strong connection to the anti-war mythologies of the 1960’s:

“For the most part, the academics, journalists, editors, and publishers who opposed the Vietnam War came from the core constituencies of the Democratic Party. As a result, the consensus story that the liberal left told about the Vietnam War and the Cold War in general combined themes from both the (secularized) northern Protestant progressive tradition and radical leftist mythology.”

(The parenthetic insertion of “secularized” above is mine, but in other paragraphs of his book, Lind indicates his agreement with this assessment.)

The modern intellectual straightjacket of political correctness has tended to strengthen the pervasiveness of anti-war folklore in American academia and much of the media. Though it is largely disinformation—in fact, warmed over leftist propaganda—its continued proclamation by academia and the media has had a significant and unfortunate impact on conventional wisdom about the war. Consequently, although most of our military leadership learned the real lessons from the Vietnam War, many influential cultural and political leaders have absorbed considerable disinformation about the war and have thus formed wrong lessons. Wrong lessons are always dangerous. There are dozens of dangerous misconceptions about the nature and conduct of the war that persist as part of a left-liberal worldview. These misconceptions must be corrected, not only for the sake of truth, but also for constructing intelligent national security policies. Basing national security and foreign policy on ideologically based myths could have a devastating cost to future generations of Americans.

My recent book (Lessons from the Vietnam War) lists twenty-three myths about the Vietnam War that are still widely accepted in academia, the media, and unfortunately by many of today’s political leaders. Yet none of these myths have substantial factual or solid historical bases. So far as they misinform future national security and foreign policy decisions, they could invite calamity. .

In his December 1, 2009, speech at West Point, President Obama indicated that he and evidently his closest advisors and speechwriters hold fast to one of these myths. In a brief historical reference to the Vietnam War, he intoned that the communist insurgents in South Vietnam had substantial popular support among the people. In fact, except for a few areas, they had little real support in South Vietnam except what could be imposed by brutality, fear, and terrorism. They assassinated over 35,000 village leaders, schoolteachers, and other anti-communists to keep the people intimidated. Most of the Viet Cong were actually North Vietnamese and were part of an aggressive North Vietnamese plan to bring South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos under their control. Following their devastating loss of 45,000 men during their 1968 Tet offensive, they ceased to be an effective force.

Another related myth is that Vietnam was a civil war. In reality, it was a North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam with the first stage being an escalating guerilla war, just as was the Korean War. Every phase and major event of this invasion had to be approved in Moscow by Soviet leaders. It was a Moscow orchestrated and financed proxy war against the United States, with the Red Chinese eagerly assisting the Soviets in supplying war materials to North Vietnam. .

Still another related myth is that it was strictly a guerilla war. Again, guerilla war was only the first phase. Even the early Viet Cong units had five times the firepower of most South Vietnamese Army units. Fully equipped North Vietnamese divisions were invading South Vietnam by 1965. In 1972, they launched a veritable Panzer Blitzkrieg against the northern provinces of South Vietnam, equipped with 500 modern Soviet tanks and some of the largest Soviet artillery weapons ever deployed on a wide scale.

Another myth is that the war was unwinnable. Yet we could have easily won in 1965 by the proper and forceful use of naval and airpower, as suggested by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pacific Area Command. This was before the Johnson-McNamara policy of gradualism allowed the Soviets to build the most formidable anti-aircraft system in history for North Vietnam. We were beginning to win it in mid-1967, even with limited applications of airpower. We certainly could have won it by applying additional airpower following the devastating defeat and near massacre suffered by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units during their 1968 Tet offensive. However, this great Allied victory was turned into a political defeat by Washington politicians intimidated by leftist agitators. We, in fact, did win in 1972 by mining North Vietnamese ports and implementing devastating strategic bombing attacks against North Vietnamese military, transportation, and industrial targets. We forced North Vietnam to sign a peace accord that should have saved South Vietnam and Cambodia, but Congress threw the victory away.

In 1975, Congress refused to supply the South Vietnamese and Cambodians with the promised logistical support necessary to counter another North Vietnamese invasion. We simply stepped out of the way and allowed the North Vietnamese to overrun South Vietnam and Cambodia as the South Vietnamese and Cambodian armed forces ran out of ammunition and supplies. As a consequence, over three million South Vietnamese and Cambodian civilians were murdered, starved to death, or pushed into the South China Sea to drown.

One of the little recognized unfortunate results of persistent left-liberal mythology about the Vietnam War has been its impact on the widows and children of our Vietnam war dead.

In April 1967, while I was still recovering from being shot down and wounded on February 22 of that year, a new A-26 pilot, being assigned to the 606th Air Commando Squadron, went out of his way to come and visit me. I was first of all impressed that he had taken so much personal time to see me. We talked much about my recent combat experience and the progress of the war. We seemed to have much in common both in military thinking and in our overall worldview. We were both young Captains, but I was extremely impressed by his patriotism and devotion to duty and honor. I also recognized that due to some previous experience, he was a dedicated anti-communist. He was also intelligent, levelheaded, and brave. Over the years, my impression of him still lingers. His name was Carlos Cruz, and he was one of the finest and most dedicated officers I ever met.

Just after Christmas that year, I heard that he was missing in action. He and his crew had spotted a convoy of ten trucks in southern Laos, near the South Vietnamese border, only about 25 miles from Khe Sanh. They had made three strafing and bombing runs on the trucks, and as they rolled in for a fourth run, the plane was hit by 37mm anti-aircraft fire and crashed and burned. The remains of Capt. Carlos Cruz, Capt. Bill Potter, and Staff Sergeant Paul Foster were not recovered until 1993 and not officially identified until October 1995.

I recently had an email conversation with Carlos Cruz’s daughter, who told me how hard it had been growing up without a father and how doubly hard it was because of the anti-war myths that were frequently turned into anti-military myths. One college professor told her in front of a college class that her father had died for nothing.

In the few months since my book was published, I have found that a surprisingly high number of its purchasers have been the widows and children of our Vietnam war dead. I pray for their sakes and ours that historical truth will prevail against the cruel propaganda of the left, and I am proud to stand by their side.

Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You can be purchased online at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com , www.booksamillion.com, www.warrenpublishing.net, or by calling the Asheville Tribune at 828-674-9103 or the Greenville (SC) Times Examiner at 864-268-0576.

Author contact: Mike Scruggs, mikescruggs@morrisbb.net, (828) 606-9533

COMMUNIST CORE: The NC General Assembly Holds Its First Public Meeting

Via NC Renegade

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On Tuesday, December 17th, the NC General Assembly Common Core Study Committee held its first public hearing to address Common Core. I attended, as well as other activists and Tea Party leaders all across the state.   Opponents of Common Core who attended were advised to dress in red to make a visual statement to the NC General Assembly of the growing movement against North Carolina’s adoption and implementation of the controversial education standards.  I proudly wore an oversized red sweater and a sticker that announced my opposition to Common Core – as did so many others.  Indeed, the public arena was a sea of red and opposition was palpable.

Not I, said the blind man.........

Via Daily Timewaster

Just THREE kids in Camden, N.J. scored college-ready though they spend $23,770 per student each year.

Via Daily Timewaster


The new superintendent of public schools in Camden, N.J. announced this week that only three — THREE! — students in the entire district who took the SAT during the 2011-12 academic year scored high enough to qualify as college-ready.

Paymon Rouhanifard learned this incredibly depressing tidbit of knowledge on the “listening tour” he commenced when he took the job in August, reports ABC News. Speaking to the school board and members of the community, he described finding out about the low number as a “kick-in-the-stomach moment.”

The superintendent told the city’s board of education that the school system must do more for students who want to attend college.

A few Christmas gift ideas from the past

Via WRSA

winchester christmas

Just because these ads are old, doesn’t mean any one of them is a bad idea. The British, whose chains rest lightly on their shoulders, don’t get it; an excited Chris Pleasance in the Daily Mail seems Shocked!, Shocked! that we barbarians in the Colonies once gave guns as Christmas gifts, but reassures him/her/it-self that the ads are “outdated.”

Hmm. These ads do date from the 1950s and 1960s, but nobody better tell Chris that more guns are being given and received under this year’s Christmas tree than were when the ads ran. And kids will still look like this happy guy when they open the long rectangular package:

Cracker Barrel: Oops! We're Putting Duck Dynasty Products Back On Our Shelves!

Via Ninety Miles From Tyranny

 Cracker Barrel customers can now resume buying Duck Dynasty trinkets.

I think we can safely call Cracker Barrel’s response to the Phil Robertson scandal a clusterduck.

For those sensible souls not following the saga as closely as I am: the Southern restaurant chain became the first major retailer to pull some Duck Dynasty products off its shelves on Saturday in response to cast member Robertson’s now-notorious anti-gay GQ interview.
Cue a barrage of tweets, emails, and calls from Duck Dynasty fans to the powers that be at Cracker Barrel, not to mention threats of a boycott.

Now, a day later, the 625-outlet comfort food chain has capitulated and will resume selling Duck Dynasty products. Here’s their statement, dated Sunday:

More @ Forbes

"When I Was A Kid"

Via Ninety Miles From Tyranny

Obama Social Security Card Fraud May Finally Get Answers

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Dated

 It took years for Watergate to unravel fully. The controversy over Barack Hussein Obama and his past, along with fraudulent documents continues to make headlines, yet the items needed to actually verify who Obama is continue to be kept from the public eye. Well, that all may be about to change. Attorney Orly Taitz may have just found a chink in the federal government’s armor in protecting Barack Obama from scrutiny, following a judge’s ruling over her Freedom of Information Act request from the Social Security Administration.

Taitz has claimed that Obama uses the Social Security number of Harry Bounel and has submitted several Freedom of Information Act requests for the information from the Social Security Administration. Each time, she has been met with stonewalling by the Social Security Administration.

However, Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander has ruled to give Taitz “an opportunity to file a second amended complaint and add allegations of SSA not doing a proper search and withholding records.”

From Taitz’s Press Release:

TRW Low Maintenance Rifle

Via Adam

 trwlmr TRW Low Maintenance Rifle

As everyone is aware, the M16 suffered from maintenance and reliability problems early in its deployment to Vietnam. While working to resolve these issues, the US government wanted to find a replacement weapon that would be more suitable to guerrilla type use to supply to insurgent forces. A contract for to this end was awarded to the TRW corporation in 1971, and the result was the TRW Low Maintenance Rifle.

 Rather than judge the design by first glance, it’s worth looking at it more closely – there are a lot of different things at play in this rifle. The information I can find doesn’t discuss whether this was intended to be manufactured by foreign groups with limited resources, but that seems to have been TRW’s thought through development (or alternatively, they wanted to be serious about minimizing manufacturing costs). The rifle does use the standard M16 magazine and M193 5.56mm cartridge (although at least one of them was used experimentally with the XM216 flechette round).

Europe Moving Toward Totalitarianism

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Europe is shifting away from a market-based economic model and is heading for Soviet-style totalitarianism, says Steen Jakobsen, chief economist of Denmark's Saxo Bank.

In a report obtained by CNBC, Jakobsen provides a series of extreme forecasts, including zero economic growth for the United States and a plunge in oil prices next year.

While Jakobsen acknowledges that the "probability of any one of the predictions coming true is low," he notes they are "based on a feasible — if unlikely — series of market and political events."

As for Europe veering toward communism, Jakobsen says the eurozone will continue to suffer from economic stagnation.

More @ Money News

Violin Cases


Al Sharpton's Chicago Town Hall Erupts into Revolt Against Machine Politics

Via WiscoDave

On Thursday, a town hall meeting hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against “Chicago Machine” politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the aldermen in City Hall, with panel and audience members calling to vote out their elected officials

One 82-year-old preacher even called for “Tea Party” style meetings in some of Chicago’s south side communities such as Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull Park.

More with video @ Breitbart

Louis Farrakhan v Phil Robertson

Via Conservative Byte

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Confederate flag symbol of freedom fight

Via Billy

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Corwin Amendment

 

Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, said of the Corwin Amendment:[1][15]
I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution—which amendment, however, I have not seen—has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service....holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.

*************************************
 
There are numerous reasons to fly the Confederate flag based on the fact that the flag represents the principles this nation was founded upon: Constitutional limited federal government, states rights, Christian values and principles, and resistance to government tyranny.

The Confederate flag is 180 degrees diametrically opposed to secular humanism and Socialism. It serves as a guardian and keystone to remind Americans of the principles this nation was founded upon, which the Confederate soldier was fighting to preserve and protect. It should be flown to remind Americans on a daily basis that America was founded as a Constitutional Federal Republic composed of Sovereign States and a Limited Federal Government. This is extremely important as America experiments with secular humanism (the belief that there is no God and that man, science, and government can solve all problems) and Socialism and moves ever closer toward eventual participation in a one world government.

Legal Execution Codes

Via Cousin John

 Uncle Sam Guillotine

 A faithful reader sent me a code and asked me to investigate how it ties into the larger scale of things. The specific code sent to me will make any American’s hair stand up on the back of their neck. The code is ICD 9 E 978. After reading this code I decided that it was my duty to investigate further and get to the bottom of why we have a medical code in the United States for “Legal Execution.” Below are my results.

ICD 9 E 978 “Legal Execution

    All executions performed at the behest of the judiciary or ruling authority [whether permanent or temporary] as:

        asphyxiation by gas
        beheading, decapitation (by guillotine)
        capital punishment
        electrocution
        hanging
        poisoning
        shooting
        other specified means
        INJURY UNDETERMINED WHETHER ACCIDENTALLY OR PURPOSELY
        INFLICTED

According to reports, more than 68,105 new medical codes are being added due to the Obamacare monstrosity.

Trey Gowdy Demands Answers On Benghazi

Via Michel

Dated

 

Luftwaffe Finis


 The color video near the end of Galland and company are excellent.

I produced this documentary from unedited, silent footage. Recently discovered color film of top Luftwaffe leaders and pilots taken as they fell into Allied hands at the end of World War II. You'll see startlingly realistic color footage of Herman Goering, Albert Kesselring, Adolf Galland, Hans Ulrich Rudel and many more. Captured aircraft are shown as well, including an Me 262, the first jet fighter, and an FW 190.