Wednesday, September 12, 2007

timetable for Iraqi withdrawal and partition

--Second, Nixon sought to undercut domestic unrest over the war. He reduced the number of American troops in Vietnam … From a peak of 540,000 in 1969, American combat troops were withdrawn at a gradual and steady pace that matched almost precisely the pace of the American buildup from 1965 to 1969. By 1973 only 50,000 American troops remained in Vietnam. … Nixon was more successful in achieving he goal of reducing antiwar activity than at forcing concessions from the North Vietnamese in Paris. –Tindall, AMERICA (1984) p. 1302. –so do the math, boys and girls, 4-5 years to get in….

-Hunt Oil Co. has struck a deal to explore for oil in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, signaling a new willingness by some large Western companies to bypass the fractious government in Baghdad and deal directly with regional authorities in the war-torn country. WSJ 9-10-07 A1—on the other hand, it appears the bourgeoisie has already decided to partition the country, so who cares?

--PS. Yesterday’s citation re: Maddox and USA provoking N.Vietnamese attacks was from Tim Weiner’s LEGACY OF ASHES (2007) 240-243 Of course the facts have been floating around for years, but since it’s in a mainstream book now (Doubleday, publisher) it’s true.

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