Vietnam War

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To End Afghan War, Reinstitute the Draft

People didn't oppose the Vietnam war, they opposed going to fight in it

(Newser) - There’s one surefire way to end the war in Afghanistan: bring back the draft. After all, that's what worked in the '60s, writes cartoonist Jeff Danziger, who was drafted and served in Vietnam. The protests over that war ripped the country apart, grinding the war effort to a halt....

Obama's Long Road to Afghan Strategy
 Obama's 
 Long Road to 
 Afghan Strategy 
BEHIND THE SCENES
Dec 6, 2009 10:26 AM CST

Obama's Long Road to Afghan Strategy

Prez was relentless in analyzing every angle

(Newser) - Amid cries of "dithering" and the silent finality of Arlington's rows of white tombstones, President Obama calmly, analytically, and exhaustively reviewed all options in Afghanistan before finally announcing to his team on Nov. 29 that he would send in 30,000 more troops. The New York Times retraces the...

Best War Movies Ever
 Best War Movies Ever 
VETERANS DAY
Nov 11, 2009 7:29 PM CST

Best War Movies Ever

Watch clips from Patton to Glory to Full Metal Jacket

(Newser) - In honor of Veterans Day, the Huffington Post runs down the best war movies of all time:
  • Apocalypse Now: Vietnam War
  • From Here to Eternity: Pearl Harbor
  • Patton: World War II
  • Braveheart: Scotland’s battle for independence
  • Lawrence of Arabia: World War I
  • Band of Brothers: World War II (and,
...

In Obama's Dover Trip, Echoes of Nixon
 In Obama's Dover Trip, 
 Echoes of Nixon 
OPINION
Oct 29, 2009 9:00 PM CDT

In Obama's Dover Trip, Echoes of Nixon

War kept both awake; Nixon's 4am walkabout more 'heartrending'

(Newser) - President Obama’s predawn trip to welcome home fallen Americans today has echoes of Richard Nixon’s 4am stroll to the Lincoln Memorial in 1970, hours before a huge anti-war protest. “What both Obama and Nixon had in common was that a war kept them awake,” Amy Davidson...

Vietnam Books Playing Key Role in Afghan War Debate
Vietnam Books Playing Key Role in Afghan War Debate
WHAT OBAMA IS READING
Oct 7, 2009 8:24 AM CDT

Vietnam Books Playing Key Role in Afghan War Debate

Competing works on Vietnam War top policymakers' reading lists

(Newser) - A pair of books on the Vietnam War—one on why America should never have gotten involved, and one on how it could have won—are providing the framework for the Washington debate over Afghanistan strategy, insiders say. Lessons in Disaster, which describes how the White House was pushed into...

Iconic Vietnam War Survivor a Symbol of Hope

Kim Phuc now gives hope to burn victims

(Newser) - When Kim Phuc was only 9, she unintentionally played a part in ending the Vietnam War. Nick Ut of the AP photographed Phuc running naked from a napalm attack in which she was horribly burned. She wasn't expected to survive, but survive she did, with the help of Ut, who...

Calley Apologizes for My Lai Massacre

(Newser) - Forty years after the infamous My Lai massacre came to light, the former Army officer who led the raid has for the first time spoken publicly about his actions. William Calley, who ordered his soldiers to gun down hundreds of civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai in 1968,...

Stone Takes on 'Secret History of America'

Director will look at 'under-reported' events in Showtime series

(Newser) - Oliver Stone is nothing if not ambitious. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the director is prepping a 10-part documentary series entitled Secret History of America, which promises to examine important but under-reported events from the past 60 years. Stone, who will provide the narration himself, calls the Showtime project “...

Reenactors Take on Vietnam War

Despite controversy, re-created conflict gets warm reception

(Newser) - Revolutionary and Civil War reenactments are a familiar sight—but now, one of the most controversial wars in US history is in reruns, the AP reports. Houston, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania have all hosted Vietnam war reenactments. “We do it to honor these guys and to tell them, 'You weren't...

Cronkite as VP? It Nearly Happened

(Newser) - A lot of things would have been better in America if Walter Cronkite had been elected vice president in 1972, writes Frank Mankiewicz in the Washington Post, and it could have happened. Mankiewicz was the political director for George McGovern’s campaign, and, “armed with a poll showing Walter...

Agent Orange Linked to Risk of Parkinson's, Heart Disease

(Newser) - Exposure to Agent Orange appears to increase the risk of developing heart disease and Parkinson’s, a congressionally mandated report says. The carcinogenic defoliant has not been definitively linked with the illnesses, but a professor who led the report says there is “limited or suggestive evidence of an association....

Would Rummy Pull a McNamara and Apologize?

Not anytime soon, says his biographer

(Newser) - Robert McNamara, the architect of the Vietnam War, eventually expressed regret for the conflict—but would Donald Rumsfeld ever apologize for Iraq? Unlikely—at least not anytime soon, writes a Rumsfeld biographer in the Washington Post. Thus far, the former secretary of Defense “has never appeared to waver in...

Kerry Plans 'Hard Look at Afghanistan'

Foreign Relations Committee must ensure effort is 'Afghan, not American'

(Newser) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will “take a hard look at Afghanistan” in the coming months, John Kerry tells GlobalPost. The committee hasn’t yet publicly scrutinized the administration’s effort in the country, but “we are not going to abrogate our responsibility,” says the senator, who...

McNamara, Palin Share Lousy Exit Strategies

(Newser) - The governor of Alaska and the architect of the Vietnam War both make fine examples of how not to quit a government post, David Broder writes in the Washington Post. Robert McNamara waited 28 years to explain that he stepped down as defense secretary because of his grave doubts about...

Obama Shares McNamara's Fatal Flaw
 Obama Shares 
 McNamara's Fatal Flaw 
OPINION
Jul 8, 2009 7:14 AM CDT

Obama Shares McNamara's Fatal Flaw

(Newser) - For some the death of Robert McNamara was the last chapter of a bygone disaster, but as George Will writes, Barack Obama and his team have more in common with the architect of Vietnam than they realize. McNamara's "eerie assuredness pervades the Washington in which he died," writes...

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
legacy
Jul 6, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam

(Newser) - Robert McNamara led many careers but will be best remembered for his time as secretary of defense during the Vietnam War. Though he privately disagreed with some decisions, he maintained a public optimism about “McNamara’s War” that earned him derision, Reuters reports. Describing the impact of the war...

Dad Was Not Only a General, But a Patton
 Dad Was Not Only a 
 General, But a Patton 
fathers day INTERVIEW
Jun 21, 2009 2:33 PM CDT

Dad Was Not Only a General, But a Patton

Grandson remembers his famous forebears

(Newser) - Living up to the legacy of one’s father can be hard, but it’s particularly trying for Benjamin Patton, the son of decorated Korean and Vietnam vet Maj. Gen. George Patton—himself the offspring of World War II titan Gen. George S. Patton. Immortalized by George C. Scott in...

College Football Great 'Doc' Blanchard Dies at 84

(Newser) - Felix “Doc” Blanchard, who won the 1945 Heisman Trophy as part of Army’s famed “Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside” backfield tandem, died yesterday of pneumonia, ESPN reports. The legendary fullback, linebacker, placekicker, and punter was 84. In 1944-46, Blanchard— “Mr. Inside” to fellow Heisman winner Glenn...

Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too
Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too
OPINION
Mar 17, 2009 9:52 AM CDT

Liberals Turn Against War in Afghanistan, Too

How swiftly 'good war' becomes 'another Vietnam,' says scribe

(Newser) - When the Iraq war was going badly, Bret Stephens writes in the Wall Street Journal, American liberals always defended efforts in Afghanistan—the “good war” the US couldn’t afford to lose. But now many of those same lefties say it’s time to bow out instead of getting...

Zippo Closes In on 500M Lighters

American icon set to sell its 500 millionth lighter by year's end

(Newser) - At some point this year, the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pa., will churn out its 500 millionth lighter, NPR reports. The windproof gadget has become a cultural staple since 1932, from the wartime foxholes of Germany and Vietnam to the glitter of the Silver Screen, but NPR notes that the...

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