Is the "Green Zone" becoming America's "Dien Bien Phu"?

[benburch]

I see similarities...

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/11/spotlight/

<snip>

After World War II, France was able to reinstall its colonial government in what was then known as Indochina. By 1946 a Vietnamese independence movement, led by communist Ho Chi Minh, was fighting French troops for control of northern Vietnam. The Viet Minh, as the insurgents were called, used guerrilla tactics that the French found difficult to counter.

<snip>

Hoping to draw Ho Chi Minh's guerrillas into a classic battle, the French began to build up their garrison at Dien Bien Phu. The stronghold was located at the bottom of a bowl-shaped river valley, about 10 miles long. Most French troops and supplies entered Dien Bien Phu from the air -- either landing at the fort's airstrip or dropping in via parachute.

<snip>

Dien Bien Phu's outlying firebases were overrun within days of the initial assault. And the main part of the garrison was amazed to find itself coming under heavy, withering artillery fire from the surrounding hills. In a major logistical feat, the Viet Minh had dragged scores of artillery pieces up steeply forested hillsides the French had written off as impassable.

<snip>

Dien Bien Phu fell to the Viet Minh on May 7. At least 2,200 members of the French forces died during the siege -- with thousands more taken prisoner. Of the 50,000 or so Vietnamese who besieged the garrison, there were about 23,000 casualties -- including an estimated 8,000 killed.

<snip>

[Xipe Totec]

1. Remember The Alamo!

They didn't have an exit strategy either.

[el_gato]

2. thanks for posting this article

I think the only way to really understand the state of the world we are living in is through the lens of colonialism.

The french lost their colonial foothold in '53, and the U.S. picked it up form there. Imagine of they had been left alone to begin with.

[benburch]

3. You are welcome...

It would seem that, having forgotten History, we are doomed to repeat it.

[realFedUp]

4. The pho war

:-)