Quote:
Originally Posted by peragro
Thanks for the ad hominem.
Have you found your soldier that said it yet?
Your last comment seems to sum up your argument rather nicely. Despite lack of evidence or actual evidence to the contrary you are going to stick with your beliefs. Note the emphasis on beliefs rather than actual events. It has lots to do with your ability to take propaganda, knowing it is propaganda, and use it to declare your point just and true at the expense of others who bother to back up their assertions with factual documentation.
Reading through some of those 236 reviews, it's amazing how many are veterans of Vietnam.
I'm sure you haven't read the book, nor have I. I probably will though, can you say the same?
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Beliefs? Dude it is established fact that many Vietnamese villages were burned to the ground, on some hairbrained notion that it would advance US interests in some way. Whether or not someone said (roughly) "had to destroy it to save it" is beside the point. I have no stake in Arnett, but even if he was a complete liar, it doesn't change the bizarre and pointless nature of the war in Vietnam.
As for my ad hominum, Burkett clearly has an ax to grind. Like O'Neill and the late Barry Sadler, he was heavily invested in the unassailable goodness and honor of serving in the US military. He complains about the assertions that US troops were severing ears for souvinirs. There have been so many anecdotal accounts about this, as well as reports in US media, that to deny it happened at this point is a bit silly. My friend in Seattle told me he and many of the guys did this.
So what? These things happen in war. I've read that hockey originally evolved using a recently severed head as a puck. IIRC polo and soccer both have some of this same history.
And we know gang-rape has happened in Iraq. Is it such a stretch to believe that it happened in Vietnam?
I do plan to read the book if I can find it. And I'm just sure you're going to watch "Going Upriver, tLWoJK." Therein you can hear other Vietnam vets describe their experience of JK. So far, you've only heard the O'Neill and crew version I'll wager. Also, the Winter Soldier hearing video is something you should see as you've already passed judgement on these guys w/o hearing their story form their own mouths.
I wish you could see the clear and heavy bias you and the Bots man put out. It's striking.
I'll have to watch about 12 hours of video to find that soldier I mentioned. I'll let you know when I do.
As you were private.