Once upon a time there was a country called Vietnam,,,

[lazer47]

where the U.S. had a war going on,,, Next door was a country called Cambodia that all the VC could escape to,, sort of like Pakistan,,, why do I feel like that I have lived this before???,, when will we invade Pakistan???

[hobbit709]

1. And the generals all said we just need a few more troops to win.

[MindPilot]

2. George Carlin had a great bit about withdrawing from Vietnam

"...through Cambodia and Laos; we're taking the overland route. Gotta go through China and Russia to get out that way!" I couldn't help think of the similarities during last night's speech especially while being told it wasn't similar at all.

[lazer47]

3. They are already bombing the shit out of Pakistan,, just like the CIA did in Cambodia

[Robb]

4. Now there's a comparison I've never heard before. nt

[lazer47]

5. I didn't write the comparison,, It was written for me 37yrs ago,,,nt

[Igel]

6. Let's finish the comparison.

The NV had invaded Cambodia, for various reasons, and that allowed them to have supply lines through the territory. In the territory, taking advantage of the shelter--intentional or not--the Khmer Rouge managed to train and expand and train and expand. The Cambodian government would have fought the Khmer Rouge directly and possibly have won otherwise.

Then there's Laos, quickly made into a North Vietnamese puppet state for a while. Another place that the NV had supply lines and interest. No Khmer Rouge, there. The newly victorious North simply invaded that country (again) and, having ousted the government, essentially controlled it for a while.

In this case, fortunately, there's not a clear correlate to the Khmer Rouge. And I'm not sure what country Laos would be. Uzbekistan, perhaps? It's also unclear that the Afghan Taliban are really into controlling Pakistan or not.

[rug]

7. .