Stalin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2008
- Messages
- 1,824
"...The vast majority of those who served in the American military in Southeast Asia were conscripts who had no choice in the matter. Most didn’t want to be there and many came to hate the war and the army officialdom.
McCain, on the other hand, welcomed the opportunity to participate in the Vietnam War, to drop bombs and kill human beings who had done him and the US population no harm. He had no scruples about it.
When he was shot down in October 1967, McCain was taking part in Operation Rolling Thunder, an aerial bombardment campaign conducted against North Vietnam from March 1965 until November 1968. His specific target, which he failed to hit, was a power plant in the center of Hanoi.
On December 31, 1967, the US Defense Department reported that American planes had dumped 864,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam during the operation, compared with 653,000 tons of bombs dropped in the entire course of the Korean War and 503,000 tons in the Pacific theater during World War II.
Estimates of civilian deaths caused by US bombing in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 52,000 to 182,000. The war eventually killed a total of more than 3 million Vietnamese and wounded another 600,000.
As a leading member of the Weatherman group, Ayers admits to having set off several small bombs, which blew up a police memorial and damaged public buildings. No one was killed or injured in those actions. Ayers was never charged with, let alone convicted, of a crime..."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/ayer-o17.shtml
McCain, on the other hand, welcomed the opportunity to participate in the Vietnam War, to drop bombs and kill human beings who had done him and the US population no harm. He had no scruples about it.
When he was shot down in October 1967, McCain was taking part in Operation Rolling Thunder, an aerial bombardment campaign conducted against North Vietnam from March 1965 until November 1968. His specific target, which he failed to hit, was a power plant in the center of Hanoi.
On December 31, 1967, the US Defense Department reported that American planes had dumped 864,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam during the operation, compared with 653,000 tons of bombs dropped in the entire course of the Korean War and 503,000 tons in the Pacific theater during World War II.
Estimates of civilian deaths caused by US bombing in Operation Rolling Thunder range from 52,000 to 182,000. The war eventually killed a total of more than 3 million Vietnamese and wounded another 600,000.
As a leading member of the Weatherman group, Ayers admits to having set off several small bombs, which blew up a police memorial and damaged public buildings. No one was killed or injured in those actions. Ayers was never charged with, let alone convicted, of a crime..."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/ayer-o17.shtml