Now, who says there were no "atrocities" committed in Nam ?

[kentuck]

I'm sure it's flashback time for a few Nam vets that post here, including yours truly. The "chickenhawks" were criticizing Kerry a few days ago for mentioning "atrocities" when he came back from Nam. When GIs get put into difficult and desperate situations, like Iraq, they can do some very cruel and inhumane things to other people. The American GI can be one of the cruelest people in the world.

The latest pictures from Iraq reminds me of Viet Nam. The GIs are in an untenable situation. They are asked to do an impossible job and are put under great stress and duress. I am not making excuses for any of them, but many are 21 years old and younger....They are kids that are reacting to the trauma of being in a war situation. I have seen it before.

[MissMarple]

1. War is hell.

How else can you describe it?

[DrWeird]

3. A racket.

One big organized crime.

[Sparkly]

2. According to John O'Neill

everybody in Vietnam was perfect at all times, both sides were downright polite, nothing people said happened actually happened...

[m-jean03]

5. There was no killing

Just mud wrestling and flower throwing right?

[dogman]

6. He had the luxury of following Kerry and his men who had fought

through some of the areas he described as pacified. Who did he think established these areas where he saw civilians who supported us. They had been moved there after men like Kerry had rooted out the enemy. I know damn well the men who preceded me in my area had faced a tougher fight. As we see in Iraq though, no one wants an occupying force in there country except those who are profiting from it. People like B$$$co's friend Chalabi.

[dogman]

4. There were also the atrocities ordered

from above. If you fired H&I you were following orders but as Kerry pointed out in his testimony there was the possibility of hitting non-combatants. We could see an enemy in some places and not fire without getting permission unless it was self-defense. In contrast there were free-fire zones where you could shoot anything that moved. I know at times we held fire and discovered old women and children gathering firewood. If we had killed them it would have been defensible because they were in these free-fire zones. These are things he spoke of that most people don't understand and were the responsibility of higher command that gave these orders

[KittyWampus]

12. Fired H&I? What Does That Mean

I am clueless :dunce:

[dogman]

13. Harrassment and Interdiction

You fire into an area in hopes of disrupting any personnel moving or hiding there. In Kerry's case it would have consisted of firing into the shoreline to disrupt anybody lying in ambush. Unfortunately anyone fishing or fetching water might get hit. It's a logical safety measure but not a good way to win hearts and minds. In Viet Nam like Iraq things were not black and white. You are never sure if you're saving them or killing them.

[bemildred]

7. I've seen pictures of necklaces made of ears.

Some of my friends/co-workers had them when they came back.
I've heard stories told in the first person. I've seen what
it did to them, the drinking, the drugs, the nightmares, the
occasional violence, and for nothing, and it wasn't their doing,
most of them, they just got sucked into the intake, or walked
in willingly out of patriotism. What a cesspool is our government.

[glarius]

10. It is so sad isn't it...that these young people have there lives ruined

because of these terrible wars....started by the cowards who sit at home, keeping their own children out of it and fueling the patriotic feelings of the other young, idealistic people?

[glarius]

8. It's no secret that there were atrocities in Viet Nam.....I remember.....

This was all brought out years ago...Remember Leutenant Calley (sp) and the Mi Lai massacre?...Apparently Colin Powell had a part in trying to cover up this atrocity....There are atrocities in every war, when young people are in desperate circumstances and become frustrated they sometimes act barbarically....My country's (Canada) soldiers did something similar to this a few years ago in Somali, Africa....War is horrible!

[philosophie_en_rose]

9. Colin Powell

The cover up of the massacre in My Lai was just the start of his illustrious career.

[FloridaPat]

11. 4 million Vietnamese civilians killed by US soldiers.

There apparently was a group of soldiers whose sole goal was to kill as many civilians as possible. They were "Vietnamizing" Vietnam. We are now doing the same thing in Iraq.