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Post by Emma on Jan 23, 2010 16:10:52 GMT -5
Who won the Vietnam war? Anyone? Did the Americans give up in the end? Why were they there anyway? I can't find many non-American sources and am confused what the point of it all was/what the real outcome was.
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dodgy
Bammer
i love brian joubert's ass
Clare Foster's sex toy
Posts: 316
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Post by dodgy on Jan 23, 2010 17:46:28 GMT -5
China...get it girl.
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Post by Emma on Jan 23, 2010 18:29:08 GMT -5
LMAO China won?! Get it.
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Post by Scrumtrulescent on Jan 24, 2010 14:53:10 GMT -5
Well my vague understanding of it (they never get around to it in history classes) is that it was all about stopping communism from spreading, like it was the 'terrorism' of the 60's or whatever. North Vietnam (kommie) was trying to control South Vietnam (non-kommie) and the US decided it was up to us to stop it before the evil commies took over the world. Basically, paranoia. We lost like 50,000 men and ended up pulling out anyway (they had reinstated the draft and it was hugely unpopular), basically losing a war that had no real objective other than to keep 'Charlie' out. We totally underestimed the terrain and the resourcefulness of the North Vietnamese troops and underestimed our military proweress (sound familiar?). Lyndon Johnson fucked up a lot too. It messed up the region for a long time, especially in Laos and Cambodia, IIRC. And China did invade Vietnam later, right? I forget things. It was never an officially declared war, and accomplished absolutely nothing other than all the murder and death - Vietnam is still communist. It also destroyed the myth that America could always triumph militarily - the world learned that if you keep trying long enough and drain enough of our resources, we'll quit and pull out (again, sound familiar?). It's still not talked about a lot, kind of like Germany and WWII.
It's funny (well not really, but...) because when the Iraq war started my grandmother was like "This WILL be another Vietnam, watch" and everyone was all "No way, OMG America will blow up Iraq in like a day!" and she was right.
Completely OT, but I'm watching the Aussie Open and man Roddick can be such an ass. I miss Marat. That Juan Del Potro is helping to ease my sadness though. YUM.
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Post by Emma on Jan 25, 2010 12:32:15 GMT -5
Thanks Liz. You're gonna be (are? do you have a permanent class now? ) such a good teacher, you always explain stuff to me!
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Post by Emma on Jan 25, 2010 12:33:59 GMT -5
And Liz OMFG I miss Marat too. I went on the fuckyeahmarat tumblr a few days ago and had a reminisce.
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Post by Scrumtrulescent on Jan 25, 2010 13:47:10 GMT -5
Oh Marat, how I miss him. I have a tumblr subscription blog thing just so I can keep up with all the 'fuckyeah____' sites, lol. Juan Del Potro is my new favorite tennis player, he seems to be a nice guy, super hot, and not play retardedly (i.e. I can cheer for him with realistic hopes) unlike James Blake...and most all other tennis players that aren't Nadal/Federerererer/Djokovic (though I'm slowly starting to like Nadal, God help me). I have to have someone to give me a reason to watch, lol. I never watch womens tennis. They all seem like spoiled, butch Russian/Scandinavian bitches and I don't see the point, though I do cheer for the Williams sisters.
And thanks, and no, no real class yet, but someday all my Hermione/know-it-all nerdiness will come in handy. Right now I'm back in school getting middle school grades certification (4-8th, or about 10-14 year olds). And you are great at answering all my retarded questions about British culture/history, so it goes both ways! It reminds me of our epic pm-essays about government and politics on GGMB, haha.
The big hole in my British history knowledge is the post-Elizabethian/pre-Hanoviarian era (basically the Stuarts and those random two or three that came after, as I equate all British history in royal eras, I keep meaning to learn but they seem so damn dull), and so I was going to ask about that whole Oliver Cromwell thing but I'll spare you, haha.
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dodgy
Bammer
i love brian joubert's ass
Clare Foster's sex toy
Posts: 316
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Post by dodgy on Jan 28, 2010 11:14:53 GMT -5
Feckin' Oliver Cromwell.
Wozniacki is a good reason to watch women's tennis. She's hot and she doesn't suck too much. And she's Danish.
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