Re: Communication and Travel

> >Americans versus Vietnamese, I think you will find the american 
> >military complaining that their political policies lost them the war.
> >Although, I'll readily admit it still would have been difficult 
> >without that.

It wasn't problems of the _US_ government that caused the most
problems.  The big problem was the nature of the government we
were supporting.  A dictatorship, even a benevolent dictatorship
only has the support of the people when it can provide security
and prosperity to the people.  When the Viet Cong demonstrated how
little security the South Vietnam military regime could provide the
morale effect on the South Vietnamese people and army was huge.

> *Snx*  Name a single encounter where the Vietnamese didn't come away 
> worse for the experience.  Tactically, we had them beat cold.  

And strategicly they kicked our butt!  Sure, everywhere we met
them in battle we hurt them a lot, but where we didn't meet them
in battle they had a lot of success.

> John M. Atkinson

One of the really big successes of the Viet Cong is they made
the average soldier hate and fear the very people they were
trying to defend.  Unlike in Europe, for example, where the
US soldier was much beloved by the people, in Vietnam the
soldiers were not an optimistic representation of American
Culture.  American soldiers violated religious shrines, violated
taboos and generally insulted the native culture while providing
a very shabby example of American culture.  Is it a wonder that
the Vietnamese didn't love us?

Michael Sandy