Historical Revisionism Alert!

[brainshrub]

I just read this on a conservative bulletin board. (Not Free Republic):

Please send this to every Lib you know.

The following appeared in the Durham, NC local paper as a letter to the editor. Please forward to all on your list as this will put things in perspective:

Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed Bush was the worst president in U.S. history. Let's clear up one point: We didn't start the war on terror. Try to remember, it was started by terrorists BEFORE 9/11.

Let's look at the "worst" president and mismanagement claims:

FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.

Truman finished that war with the loss of 200,000 Japanese lives in just 4 days and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year.

John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent . Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people. We lost 600 soldiers, an average of 300 a year. Bush did all this abroad while not allowing another terrorist attack at home.

Worst president in history? Come on!

[ithacan]

1. point 1: Germany declared war on the US!!!

what f***ing idiots these so called "conservatives" are.

Yes, Japan attacked us. But Japan and Germany were allies. And Germany declared war on the US!

I suppose that Roosevelt should have just ignored that...

[rockymountaindem]

9. True, true.

Most historians I hear about say that Hitler's declaration of war on the US was not only unnecessary, but an even bigger mistake than Operation Barbarossa (obviously).

[madrchsod]

2. they

must have failed every history course they ever had ,that is if they even had a history course. dumb asses

[GreenNADER]

4. why isn't Kerry attacking the chimp on this

think about it .............

[sweetheart]

3. 1937 Germany

Hitler has killed hardly any of his own civilians, a moral cleansing
is in the works to clean unpatriotics, communists, unclean races
and nonchristian religions to purify the nation. The military
spending has increased and strong alliances are being formed in a
coalition of the willing to assert world power. Weapons reserch in
to rocket delivery systems and nuclear weapons increased; Inflation
curbed and economic growth under way...

Worst Dictator in history? Come on.

Bush ain't done yet... lesson from history: Don't let him finish.

[plaguepuppy]

6. "without UN or French consent "

Jeeze, when did these trolls get so solicitous of the UN and French?

"I'd like the double-double with a side of UN fries and a Diet Dr. Pibb"

[Sophree]

15. When they were told to.

"Jeeze, when did these trolls get so solicitous of the UN and French?"

[brainshrub]

5. It dawn on me that this letter is saying:

Bush isn't the worst president in history! There are other presidents much worse! LOL!

They know * is an idiot.

[sadiesworld]

7. Put nuclear inspectors in N. Korea???? They were kicked out b/c of *!!!!

[Astarho]

8. what a bunch of crap

FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did.

And Germany and Japan were allies. Germany declared war on us first.

Truman... started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us.

North Korea did not exist at the time. It was a Korean civil war that we got involved in.

John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

Wrong. Eisenhower got us into Vietnam.

There is so much more crap here, but I don't have time to go after it now.

[ComerPerro]

16. I would also tell most neocons

That unlike Truman, Bush will never do anything about North Korea. How, then, is Bush keeping us safe????

And, I am guessing that these psychotics think that us fighting in WWII was bad?

[MichaelHarris]

10. Post this at the neo-con site.

The Eisenhower Administration developed and implemented policies in Southeast Asia that contributed directly to the massive American military involvement in Vietnam in the decade after Dwight Eisenhower left office. The Eisenhower Administration sought to build a nation in South Vietnam in order to protect U.S. global interests.

Eisenhower's Letter of Support to Ngo Dinh Diem, October 23, 1954.

Dear Mr. President: I have been following with great interest the course of developments in Viet-Nam, particularly since the conclusion of the conference at Geneva. The implications of the agreement concerning Viet-Nam have caused grave concern regarding the future of a country temporarily divided by an artificial military grouping, weakened by a long and exhausting war and faced with enemies without and by their subversive collaborations within. Your recent requests for aid to assist in the formidable project of the movement of several hundred thousand loyal Vietnamese citizens away from areas which are passing under a de facto rule and political ideology which they abhor, are being fulfilled. I am glad that the United States is able to assist in this humanitarian effort. We have been exploring ways and means to permit our aid to Viet-Nam to be more effective and to make a greater contribution to the welfare and stability of the government of Viet-Nam. I am, accordingly, instructing the American Ambassador to Viet-Nam to examine with you in your capacity as Chief of Government, how an intelligent program of American aid given directly to your government can serve to assist Viet-Nam in its present hour of trial, provided that your Government is prepared to give assurances as to the standards of performance it would be able to maintain in the event such aid were supplied. The purpose of this offer is to assist the Government of Viet-Nam in developing and maintaining a strong, viable state, capable of resisting attempted subversion or aggression through military means. The Government of the United States expects that this aid will be met by performance on the part of the Government of Viet-Nam in undertaking needed reforms. It hopes that such aid, combined with your own continuing efforts, will contribute effectively toward an independent Viet-Nam endowed with a strong government. Such a government would, I hope, be so responsive to the nationalist aspirations of its people, so enlightened in purpose and effective in performance, that it will be respected both at home and abroad and discourage any who might wish to impose a foreign ideology on your free people.

Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Almost as soon as Eisenhower took office, he gave South Vietnam its first U.S. military support. He sent 200 Air Force mechanics to service U.S. bombers. By 1954 the United States was paying 80 percent of the cost of the war.



Timeline:
1956 US Training South Vietnamese
The US Military Assistance Advisor Group (MAAG) assumes responsibility, from French, for training South Vietnamese forces.

1959: US Servicemen Killed in Guerilla Attack
Major Dale R. Buis and Master Sargeant Chester M. Ovnand become the first Americans to die in the Vietnam War when guerillas strike at Bienhoa

All this before the Kennedy administration. These blithering idiot conservatives don't like to do alot of research. Point him in the right direction.

Make sure he realizes Ike was a publican. All this sound familiar? Iraq? American special interests? Global domination and bush?

[starroute]

18. Blame Averell Harriman and Henry Cabot Lodge -- not JFK

Probably the pivotal event in the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam was the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem by a junta of South Vietnamese military officers in the summer of 1963. And that overthrow was instigated not by Kennedy himself, but by a small group of powerful people going behind his back.

As it says in George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography: "At this time, the group proposing escalation in Vietnam (as well as preparing the assassination of President Diem) had a heavy Brown Brothers, Harriman/Skull and Bones overtone: the hawks of 1961-63 were Harriman, McGeorge Bundy, William Bundy, Henry Cabot Lodge, and some key London oligarchs and theoreticians of counterinsurgency wars. And of course, George Bush during these years was calling for escalation in Vietnam and challenging Kennedy to 'muster the courage' to try a second invasion of Cuba."

http://www.tarpley.net/bush8b.htm


The crucial factor in Diem's overthrow was a cable, sent without Kennedy's knowledge or approval, supporting the anti-Diem plotters:

Although the product of many causes, the US Government's action in 1965 to engage its forces openly and directly in Vietnam can be said to have evolved from mid-1963, when cumulative mistakes by the Ngo Dinh Diem government caused a precipitate decline in South Vietnam's already-shaky performance against its Communist adversary, the Viet Cong.

<snip>

The storming of Buddhist pagodas on 21 August by forces directed by Ngo Dinh Nhu crystallized the "Diem must go" convictions, and on Saturday, 24 August, at a time when President Kennedy, National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of Defense McNamara, Secretary of State Rusk, and DCI McCone happened to be out of town, a small group of strategically placed senior State Department officials smoked a fateful Top Secret/Operational Immediate cable past interagency coordinators to a receptive Ambassador Lodge. In effect, that cable told the Ambassador to advise Diem that immediate steps must be taken to improve the situation--such as meeting Buddhist demands and dismissing his brother. If Diem did not respond promptly and effectively, Lodge was instructed to advise key Vietnamese military leaders that the United States would not continue to support his government.

<snip>

Reading the cable only after it had been sent, virtually all of Washington's top officials were critical of the manner in which Hilsman, Harriman, and Forrestal had acted, and in a series of White House meetings the next week the President himself expressed second thoughts about the faults and virtues of the Ngo brothers and the merits of a military coup. . . . Lyndon Johnson later termed the dispatching of the cable a crucial decision that "never received the serious study and detached thought it deserved," a "hasty and ill-advised message" that constituted a green light to those who wanted Diem's downfall, and a "serious blunder which launched a period of deep political confusion in Saigon that lasted almost two years."

<snip>

Ambassador Frederick Nolting, displaced in Saigon by Lodge and denigrated in Washington by Hilsman because of his pro-Diem arguments (but whose counsel the President sought in August 1963 to balance that of his detractors), later wrote that in 22 years of public service he had never seen anything "resembling the confusion, vacillation and lack of coordination in the U.S. Government" at that time. Although Nolting had sympathy for President Kennedy, he deplored "his failure to take control" and concluded that "the Harriman-Lodge axis seemed too strong for him."

http://ngothelinh.150m.com/CIA_CSI.html

[ScrewyRabbit]

11. It conveniently leaves out all sorts of facts.

Just another con rant.

[brainshrub]

12. Bush is the 14th worse President in the 20th century.

The gist of this letter is: Bush isn't the worst president ever. Look at FDR, Truman, Kennedy & Clinton...they were all much worse. The author then goes on to give historical examples taken grossly out of context to make it's point.

For the sake or argument, let's simply agree with the writer on all his points.

In the 20th Century there have been 18 presidents. This essay implies that there are four Presidents worse than Bush. That would mean that Bush is the 14th worse President! Hardly something worth bragging about.

Bush doesn't even make the top 50%! LOL!

[9215]

13. Neo-cons mindset very similar to Orwell's

characters. If you change Al Qaeda to Emmanuel Goldstein it is a perfect fit. This bozo absorbs propoganda via osmosis without the least ability or desire to question it.

This really is a great snapshot of the mind of those targeted by the BFEE propoganda machine. They have managed to equate Bush's actions against Al Qaeda with that of WWII and make Bush look like the more savvy leader in the process. Absolutely stupendous work of propoganda. I have to commend the nefarious bastards on this.

[Doomsayer13]

14. horrible facts on Vietnam

The United States had roots in Vietnam since FDR. Truman was the first to send in military advisors and Dwight Eisenhower really stepped up US involvement with more advisors and more money. True, Jack Kennedy really put our foot firmly into Vietnam, but Eisenhower has as much to do with US involvement as any. The post also ignores the fact that Nixon extended the war for 4 years seeking "honor" and lost us another 30,000 lives.

[ComerPerro]

17. If freepers had their way, Hitler would have taken over

Is what I read from this stupid rant.

They tell us that if we had our way, Saddam would be in power (because we opposed a war based on Bush's "reasons").

Well, fuck them. I say that according to this, they opposed us attacking Hitler and Germany.

So, therefore, if it were up to them, Hitler would have taken over Europe and slaughtered people by the millions.

These fascist assholes are really fucking sick.