Closed Borders

[Danno 1,228]

Great movie on the true life story of one Vietnamese who lived through it and made to to america (only to be killed on the streets in California) was The Killing fields.

Sorry to challenge your history, but "The Killing Fields" was not about Vietnam. It was Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge. The man who ultimately escaped became a New York Times photographer, and was ultimately killed in a car crash.

It had absolutey nothing to do with America or our military.

We watched it in my 8th grade geography class, I'm quoting this from memory (but I'm fairly certain that I am correct)

Thanks for the correction of detail, but I "thought" I had Read he was killed in front of his Apt in Cal. Oddly enough I cant seem to find mention of the cause of his death, even at http://www.dithpran.org... not even a mention of his death but this detail is irrelevant to my point.

While I am quite certain even today debate goes on as to the events of Political/military actions, I think my main point still stands (at least I hope) and that is, JFK and later two more Presidents sent or oversaw the military action to combat the spread of Communism in that part of the world.

When we pulled out of that part of the world one of the biggest human loss of life took place, and all those who claimed to care so much for the people in that part of the world just kinda lost interest, they seem to trade their CS&N albums for James Taylor

I am quite certain if this were to happen AFTER Bush heads back to Crawford, we would get the same response.

It's all about Politics (domestic) not only do these phonies not care about Iraq, they don't really care of about our Soldiers either. If they did all these rock stars would have gotten together to raise money for causes benefiting the Military or their families.

It galls them that huge numbers of troops there Joined the military After the war started and continue to join.

From the voices I hear, this is the opinion I have drawn anyway.

[Danno 1,228]

<<<Um...what?!?! We are talking about the Vietnam war, right? If you were talking about Korea, I'd agree. But nobody's forgotten Vietnam. I mean, nobody except the people running the Iraq war. Everyone else remembers.>>

Actually, I was talking about The slaughter that took place after we pulled out.

It's a small point but the "The killing fields" was no more about the Khmer Rouge than "The Pianist" was about Hitler.

I suspect we will unfortunately be in Iraq for a long time to come. Especially when you consider the top teer candidates Running for 08 have said as much.

[russ 1]

Thanks for the correction of detail, but I "thought" I had Read he was killed in front of his Apt in Cal. Oddly enough I cant seem to find mention of the cause of his death, even at http://www.dithpran.org... not even a mention of his death but this detail is irrelevant to my point.

We are both mistaken. The actor who played Dith Pran was murdered in LA.

Dith Pran has worked at The New York Times since 1980, and reports of his death (by me) were wildly exaggerated.

[slim 1,523]

You guys are all in the right general area....

The very existence of the Khmer Rouge and the slaughter depicted in "the Killing Fields" was directly influenced by Vietnam. U.S. presence in the region only exacerbated the whole situation and the subsequent pullout ended up placing the U.S. on the "same team" as the Khmer Rouge.

Kind of like how we were on Saddam's team. (And the Taliban's team. Noriega's team. et al.)

Certainly Iraq, it's neighbors, and the aftermath are all going to be affected by the U.S. pullout as well.

[mox 298]

If they did all these rock stars would have gotten together to raise money for causes benefiting the Military or their families.

Ah yes, because if there's anything our military needs, it's more money. (kidding)

Actually there are many charities that benefit our military veterans and families. The Yellow Ribbon Fund is the one that comes to my mind first, but there are many others. There's another group where you can send care packages to soldiers. I can't remember the name of it off-hand, but I've sent several care packages that way.

Also, the money these "rock stars" raise typically goes to children and other civilian victims of war. If you want our military and their families to be taken care of, you should demand it from our government. National Guard soldiers who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with their Army/Marine counterparts have their VA benefits turned off after 12 months. The VA is constantly understaffed and underfunded, (Walter Reed anyone?) and of course there's the infamous "you go to war with the army you have" line that pretty much summed up why our troops were sent into combat with inadequate armor. I'd like to see some of the "rock stars" of Washington step up to the plate (and I include the Democrats who lied when they said they were going to change directions) and start really caring about the troops as other than photo ops.

It galls them that huge numbers of troops there Joined the military After the war started and continue to join.

No. It galls them (the peace movement) that huge numbers of troops continue to be killed and maimed over a war about oil and egos. Also, recruiting for the Army has dropped off to dangerous levels. The reason you hear that they are meeting and sometimes exceeding their quotas is because 1) they have "adjusted" recruiting targets to much lower levels than pre-war and 2) they have drastically lowered the requirements for entry into the service. Talk about Vietnam all over again. I just heard a report on Friday that the Army is facing a huge shortage of West Point graduates, because most graduates are resigning their commisions after their obligation is up. This is potentially devastating to an all-volunteer Army because they depend on this pipeline for future leadership.

From the voices I hear, this is the opinion I have drawn anyway.

You should get new voices. (sorry, couldn't resist... )

[Danno 1,228]

If they did all these rock stars would have gotten together to raise money for causes benefiting the Military or their families.

Ah yes, because if there's anything our military needs, it's more money. (kidding)

Actually there are many charities that benefit our military veterans and families. The Yellow Ribbon Fund is the one that comes to my mind first, but there are many others. There's another group where you can send care packages to soldiers. I can't remember the name of it off-hand, but I've sent several care packages that way.

Also, the money these "rock stars" raise typically goes to children and other civilian victims of war. If you want our military and their families to be taken care of, you should demand it from our government. National Guard soldiers who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with their Army/Marine counterparts have their VA benefits turned off after 12 months. The VA is constantly understaffed and underfunded, (Walter Reed anyone?) and of course there's the infamous "you go to war with the army you have" line that pretty much summed up why our troops were sent into combat with inadequate armor. of course the I'd like to see some of the "rock stars" of Washington step up to the plate (and I include the Democrats who lied when they said they were going to change directions) and start really caring about the troops as other than photo ops.

Well you can swallow the "we care about the troops" ploy being used but the proof is in the action, not the bumper-stickers.

We have a group locally which reach out to help families in many small day-to-day ways such as minor auto repair, help with home repairs, childcare and a number of other ways. I have asked several "peace loving friends of the military" to join and only one actually seemed interested.

Sure there could be some Govt. program to do this as you suggest but I doubt it would be as effective.

It galls them that huge numbers of troops there Joined the military After the war started and continue to join.

No. It galls them (the peace movement) that huge numbers of troops continue to be killed and maimed over a war about oil and egos.

Oil and ego? when was the last time you walked to work?

Unless your sitting at a hand-cranked computer, your whole life-style is provided by oil.

Also, recruiting for the Army has dropped off to dangerous levels. The reason you hear that they are meeting and sometimes exceeding their quotas is because 1) they have "adjusted" recruiting targets to much lower levels than pre-war and 2) they have drastically lowered the requirements for entry into the service. Talk about Vietnam all over again. I just heard a report on Friday that the Army is facing a huge shortage of West Point graduates, because most graduates are resigning their commisions after their obligation is up. This is potentially devastating to an all-volunteer Army because they depend on this pipeline for future leadership.

From the voices I hear, this is the opinion I have drawn anyway.

You should get new voices. (sorry, couldn't resist... )

Ok, I'll swing by moveon.org and get all the FACTS.

[Kotenochek 0]

Good news we have elections for presidendssoon in both countries,so no matter what those will decide i hope it wont be closed eventually.But hey she can still fly to europe and then to russia from european country.

[KGSodie 0]

Good news we have elections for presidendssoon in both countries,so no matter what those will decide i hope it wont be closed eventually.But hey she can still fly to europe and then to russia from european country.

Thanks for the optimism, I'll always take all of that I can get!

[slim 1,523]

And anyway, Russian borders are never really "closed" because the konskripti guarding them will probably let you pass for a "fine" of 1000P and a bottle of vodka.