ON WHITE LIBERALS

David Lawrence: Liberals are covertly fighting on the side of radicals.

David Lawrence: Liberals are self-defeatist suckers.

David Lawrence: Bernie Sanders is Cuba. He doesn`t have to go there to live with the peasants. He has the communist intellectual capacity and fortitude of mush. Idiot!

David Lawrence: When the Swedes put Muslim refugee centers out of service, the pussy Swedish liberals have finally grown pubic hairs and stand up for the rights they gave away.

ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF SHARIA LAW

David Lawrence: Sharia Law is "unconstitutional." It subverts the constitution. It`s also illegal for Muslims to slaughter innocent people.

David Lawrence: Islam is a murderer`s wet dream.

OBAMA NUKES FOR IRAN

David Lawrence: What a traitor. What a stupid country we live in. What suckers.

ON MUSULMEN REQUIRED TO WEAR BEARDS

David Lawrence: Women don`t like making love to scratchy men.

PUNISMENT FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY

David Lawrence: society is soft because punishments are,

David Lawrence: The UN stands for united negativity.

ON OBAMA`S ORATORY

David Lawrence: Obama giving a speech, "This shit again."

David Lawrence: Obama is stupidity written in gibberish.

David Lawrence:`s latest poem THE FUTURE OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS which preaches forgoing "cheap thrills" and celebrating the virtue of "the amateur drama [o]f being imperfect" has been published in Convergence, Winter, 2016

Jonathan Billet : Confabulation

The League To Enforce Peace

I read that Taft started, "The League To Enforce Peace" but had nothing to do with it, declaring war on Cuba. Victory was declared in 1915 by his predecessor. At that time in our country`s history the majority of citizens were either in the C.I.A. or the F.B.I. The rest were inducted into the army. They were called, "Grunts" because they were too busy complaining to do anything else. When the war ended and peace was declared by Johnson, the roaring twenties began and people spent their time at, "Speakeasies" where, "The Free Speech Movement" started. It was big with the Flappers in, "The Woodstock Nation" which influenced the San Francisco Bay Area. Infiltrators penetrated the spokespeople of the Nation, and it was closed down.

The began, "The Reign Of Terror" where people were put under house arrest and tortured in the streets under Roosevelt administration. This led to great dissatisfaction by the people and caused, "The War To End All Wars" which led to, "The War On Terror" in nineteen thirty two. Or was it fourty three?

Nobody can remember because they fell asleep in the balconies of the opera houses. The music stopped and left the whole nation to clean up the mess that it made. People began to live in peace and prosperity in the fifties and sixties. Then came, "Camelot" which was started by Eisenhower. "Ike" as we all knew him affectionately. This is all seventh grade history at the Quaker Ridge Elementary School.

By `Danny & Charley`

---

: Oct 29, 2017 12:29am:"Sleep"

As I creep, my world falls into a deep death`s dark sleep.
Would rather burn in hell than freeze in heaven.

My brain`s intersections meet, at the corner, of Poverty and Health Lane. Driving down the one way windowpane.

There is a caution sign on the Great State Highway.
I paint purple pavement, and orange orbiting, double docker buses.

At the flower shop, at the University.
The movement, is at the corner intersection.

Where streets meet, I clasped my hand`s feet.
A 5` O`clock, mysterious delete.

Parallel universes` triangles are happy to meet and greet you.
Infinities space in the other dimension of time`s slow pace.

Tractors rip up streets past in time.
Tearing down present walls.

I`m searching for the future in a dream`s hall.
Where I have to get on my hands and knees and crawl.

Always to stand.
Never to fall.

Nothing to big or small.
In a loud resounding call.

~Jon Billet- 07/08/17

---

Woodstock Libation

Rolled around in the mud.
In the Executive Tub.

Tried to hitch a ride.
On a female ass`s hide.

Noe I`m a cooking gourmet.
Hey, the hippie thing was the other day.

I can remember when this happened.
But computers and heads I am tappin`.

Finger snappin` to th white Bessie Smith.
While getting caught in a segregated snow drift.

Or is ny deli in the desert.
Yes, that must be it, the deli desert cafe.

Before I found my way.
In one place I couldn`t stay.

All the way from New York to Colorado.
In many moons of the days and nights.

Now I back the resident President 1,000%
On "The War On Error"

Like a barking dog.
In its terror.

I`m a senior member of The Kennedy Mob.
Just leave it up to Jr. Bob.

From me they will always rob.
For them I will sob.

For the next S.O.B.
To set the world free.

They invaded my space and privacy.
Is there a vacancy?

They scream in their clemency.
The world has yet to see!

To jail where we will all be.
As he wallows in his mud for free.

He`s a friend of Swartzenegger Kennedy.
The "lovely liberal" Abbie Mickey

Jon B.

---

John Grey:
GREY SKIES

THE GREAT SELFISHNESS OF MAN

I don`t regret
that my feelings matter
more than anything else,
that they are hallowed and sacrosanct,
and must be protected
at all times,
at all costs.

As for this argument,
there`s no point in me seeing your side
when only mine
can act as a bulwark,

I don`t claim the wisdom of Buddha
nor the infallibility of Jesus
and I don`t set out
with the intention
to seek power, to lord it over others
who are, in their own way,
intent on being their own human fortress.

The fact is
that I can`t set myself aside.
Even when I`m acting selfless,
I`m being selfish.

So my arm around you
is really an arm around me.

I wipe your tears
for my hand`s benefit.

And when I say,
"You`re right and I`m wrong,"
it`s for the pleasure of thinking otherwise.

SIGNAGE POEM

"Stay out," one sign said.
"Trespassers will be shot!"
declared another.
Made me wonder about
the one who posted them.

He wanted contact with no one
and was prepared to kill
to protect his solitude.

There`s no such signs
on the door of my study.

But there is an inference.
If I did indulge myself
in such signage,
they`d probably read,
"I`d prefer it if you
didn`t bother me
when I`m in the middle
of something"

and "Trespassers
will be greeted
with a look of
pronounced disgust."

I`m no hermit.
I`m a poet.
The big difference is in the weaponry
we brandish.
And the direction in which it`s pointed.

ANDY`S WEDDING NIGHT SPEECH TO TERESA

Your face is assuredly not custom-built.
And your figure is slender sure
but like a margin is slender,
between me with you
and me with someone else.

Unprepossessing is your byword.
Say it enough, you reckon,
and people won`t see how tiny are your breasts.

And you`ve nothing above or below the waist to be proud of.
But marriage has a need for every sentient being
it can lay its hands on.

I require but one which is why you`re here.
Even you confess how ugly you are,
admit that warthogs, armadillos, trace their lineage to you.

There is no flower extant
that is the least like a mirror
when you pluck it in the fields.
But your body has all the pans it needs.
And you laugh at my jokes.

Homely but with eyes bright as lava
and a tongue that can reduce me to
a wrinkle on your forehead.

Theresa. I really do adore you
for your plainness.
Now turn the light out.
It`s this drab bird`s time to sing.

YES, YOU

You don`t have a model`s confirmation.
You have to be attractive in a different way.
That may not sound special
but, having seen you
in a variety of circumstances,
he now knows how special that really is.

You`re not the way you are
to lure everybody
but to continue luring the one.

And he doesn`t base attraction
on the usual stereotypes.

The cumulative effect
of Hollywood actresses,
sexpot singers
and catwalk curves
has still allowed him
more than enough room to maneuver.

He lets go of the impossible facade
and embraces all that you have to offer.
You don`t have a clown`s confirmation
but you make him happy.

You even leave a little greasepaint on his lips
sometimes.

FROM DEREK, IN PRISON

Solitary, wall-punching bad guy -
who could have guessed
this would be me.

I`m on a bunk far from kin.
Guards make sure 1 know
exactly where I am,
that if wasn`t for time,
I`d be back home by now.

My sisters think of me and sob.
The house is full of my possessions.
I alone don`t live there,
have been given over to the state.

I tremble, 1 curse - that`s my
endless plea bargain.
Nothing happens in this place
that I can tell.

But far away from here,
a young boy scraps and fights and thieves
and lives my life

---

Ray Gallucci:
MEASURE OF DEVOTION

VALLEY FORGED

It was a winter of discontent,
But not an Ice Age past,
Still many casualties we lament.
In concrete legend`s cast.

The silent killer of Valley Forge
Was neither snow nor cold,
But as reported by General George –
Diseases uncontrolled.

In fact if winter had harsher been,
Disease might not have spread.
Severe discomfort afflicting men
Would not have left them dead.

Supplies, though meager, were still enough
For winter to survive.
But dysentery, pneumonia`s cough
Meant one in seven died.

Between desertions and training poor,
An "army" barely was.
But being able to still endure
Proved crucial to The Cause.

Once fledgling Congress had finally learned
From General Washington
How victory could be truly earned
Was Independence won.

Equip an army and train them well,
Don`t leave to happenstance.
Forge fighting force so professional,
Leave nothing more to chance.

So Valley Forge proved a turning point –
From Colonies emerged
What we as nation could now anoint
With sovereignty deserved.

STANDALONE

Buffeted by winds.
Pulverized with hail,
Vortices and spins.
Can I weather gales?

Like a tree alone,
Feeling full the force
When whatever`s thrown
Turns from bad to worse.

I`m compelled to stand
Firm no matter what
If a fire`s fanned
Till it`s blazing hot.

That I must survive
Cannot be in doubt.
Long as I`m alive
Naught can snuff me out.

---

JD COLLINS: THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Recently the National Anthem has come under attack as a paean to slavery. Did Francis Scott Key in celebrating an important victory over the mistress of the sea intend to romanticize the peculiar institution of slavery?

The Star Stangled Banner is a poem composed by lawyer Francis Scott Key who was detained aboard a British Frigate on September 13 - 14 1814 during the bombardment of Fort Mc Henry which protected the gate to the port city of Baltimore. Key claimed that the British drinking tune "To Anacreon in Heaven" played over and over in his head the night of the bombardment of the port with inaccurate but frightening Congreve Rockets. In te morning the Star Spangled Banner still flew; the British attack had been repulsed.

Lately, it has become popular for White Liberals to hold the nation`s head in shame over the third stanza`s reference to hirelings and slaves which according to the tune faithlessly ran away.

The Anthem consists of four stanzas. Today only two are officially recognized. The Second which calls Britain the "foes` haughty host" was otlawed in the First World War. Its singing might violate the Espionage Act. The Third Stanza was de-recognized in 1942 during the Second World War as equally insulting to Britain as the Second. It seems the hoopla and excessive White Liberal weaping is for words unsung.

The references complained of have nothing to do with African slavery. Hireling in the Third Stanza recalls the German Hessian mercenaries were hired by Gorge III to put down the rebellion; Slaves spoken of in that stanza probably refers to other subjects of King George, the Irish and perhaps the Scotts too who too willingly enlisted to serve as red coats against Americans. In the Revolution, the Catholic Irish from the South of that country served as red coats. General Charles O`Hara was given the honor of surrendering on Britain`s behalf at Yorktown.

Lets see how that goes. The Foes` Haughty Host (Britain) in dreadful silence repose." (We whupped`em.) Of course Glen Campbell and Johnny Horton sang the same thing in the song The Battle of New Orleans, without objection. In the third stanza the line reads, "No refuge could save the hireling (Hessian from the revolution) and slave (King George`s other subjects) from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave," (They was run off).The current controversy here among white Liberals over a de-recognized stanza is an interesting confabulation.

If Key harpooned Germans, Irish and Scotts in one swoop, he did not leave the English did not get off the hook, they are the foe`s haughty host in outlawed stanza no 2. So to delete stanzas 1 and 4 to satisfy ignorant white liberals who think it is a paean to slavery, we`ll be left with an English drinking song. Said Abraham Lincoln of this anthem then during the Civil War competing with the minuet-ish tones of Hail Columbia for recognition,"I`ll drink to that."

Of course Lincoln also should have thanked Britain for their remiss in dealing with the famine in Ireland. Where in the Revolution, Britain could easily enroll the Catholic Irish to fill the ranks necessary to fight Americans, Lincoln had their great - grandchildren to fight Southern rebels.

For historical purists, there is naught to fear. The Irish borrowed some of the outlawed 3d stanza from us when they was in a mood to rankle the rainbows and unicorns of the special relationship.

A Most Cheery Cherio!

---

Ray Gallucci:
UNFATHOMABLE SAW NOTHING (WASHINGTON) Condemned by an election
With naught but imperfection -
Our choice? A pair of losers,
Both liars, thieves and schmoozers.

With neither Presidential,
Both lacking all credentials,V Would George have been appalled
If had a crystal ball?

"For this I fought with Britain,
Had Constitution written.
But never`d have predicted
This pair on us inflicted.

"If I had seen this future -
Our President a moocher,
How nation would be harming,
I would have stuck to farming."

---

DR Jeff Wordsmith: Snake eyes

With a cat
And a rattlesnake
Down the Tiber steps
With that Co-rean

The malevolent grin
Of the North Korean
Up and at him
Donald

America expects every man
To do his duty
And they will – Army, Air Force, ships –
Above the 59th Parallel

His missiles are poised
To strike
Japan, Alaska and beyond,
They shall not pass – "No passeremos"
US
God Save America
And down with the Foe
North Korea,
The world is with you, Donald

Annie get ya stun
And face down North Korea
Remember the Twin Towers
How great are the mighty fallen

America stands over for
A Lilliputian enemy
Remember ‘Nam, though,
And cast a shadow before their eyes

The malevolent grin of a dictator
Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini – all in one
Go for it,
Donald!

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
Cannot trump Trump
"Only say the Word, Lord,"
And we will arise to the skies

"We don`t want to fight, boys,
But by Jingo, if we do,
We`ve got the men, we`ve got the ships,
We`ve got the money, too,"
This ain`t talk, boys,
It`s war with North Korea

In god, we Trust
And also in Donald Trump,
Who will lead US into battle
Against the North Korean

American blood has been shed
Oft enough
"Once more into the breach"
For US and Donald Trump

---

Ray Gallucci: TIDAL WAVE
SNEAK-A-BOO Hiding behind A technicality That`s been defined As staunch legality Lets someone feign Deniability And so disdain Responsibility. When what is true Is irrefutable – Like sky is blue – Quite indisputable, Of those who dare To lie contemptibly Always beware Lest stained you`ll also be.	SUB-WAY Safe beneath the waves While on surface rage Class-Five hurricanes Swamping boats and planes. Here I`m in a sub Where there`s no hubbub. Unlike storms above, Free from push and shove. And should planet quake And tsunamis break, I have naught at stake – Here`s no monster wake. Just so long as I`ve Not too deeply dived, I will have survived, Thankfully alive.	PASTURE-IZED Wisdom comes with age, been told. Earn respect as one grows old. Share with youngsters what you`ve learned, Lessons heeded, never spurned. Now I find that`s been a lie When your sage insights deny Party line that`s been espoused. Might as well with dog be housed. Treated as irrelevant, To some quiet pasture sent, While the up and coming stars Brain-washed are by commissars.

THE CHAIR: The Society will come to order. Tonight is the occasion of THE DEAN`S SPEECH but as usual we have a request from the Lord Mentor to extend a FEW words. Mentor, remember the word FEW.

The Mentor: Thank you Lord Chair. Recently I shocked the Society by undertaking a study of the history of US medicine beginning at a starting point with Dr Benjamin Rush.

THE CHAIR: Mentor, History particularly American History is not your strong point. For you to come up with Dr Rush surprised many. DR Rush is a rather obscure patriot. His claim to fame is that he unsuccessfully participated in the Conway incident an effort to replace Washington with General Gates in 1778 - 1779.

The Mentor: I seek to prepare a history of US medicine, but where should I begin? Perhaps I should start with Dr Rush who was a professor of medicine and founded a Medical College. However, I find no evidence that Dr Rush engaged in the cabal to remove General Washington. Indeed, I find no evidence for many of the historical views disseminated in this chamber.

THE CHAIR: Dr Rush was one of those unique people who narrowly escaped being brilliant. In the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia then the Nation`s capital, Dr Rush was a dedicated, though thoroughly inept, physician prescribing counter-productive medical treatments such as blood - letting which weakened the patient. Dr Rush collected a great wealth of observations on the conditions which led to the pandemic, unusually heavy rains, accumulation of great puddles which did not drain, hefty piles of dung not cleared, and heavy mosquito infestation. Having gathered all the evidence, Dr Rush refused to identify the cause of the contagion. In short, Dr Rush was clueless.

The Mentor: But Lord Chair, Medical doctors do disclaim any responsibility for matters of public health…

THE CHAIR: You may find that in the course of his presentation the Lord Dean will present a person as clueless as Dr Rush. Dean, you may commence.

THE DEAN: Thank you Lord Chair. And greetings to the Society, its Lords President, its distinguished gentlemen and members, its Select and Honorable Military Sciences Committee, and of course to our most venerable Lord and Mentor, Dr James Davies.. The Society undertook a study of the major battles in which the use of airpower was employed to relieve and resupply an isolated unit cut off and under enemy attack such as happened at Khe Sahn during the Vietnam War.

The Mentor: Point of Information, Lord Chair. Hasn`t our military science with Drones, satellite recognizance and wonder weapons advanced to the point that such a maneuver (ENGL manoeuver) would be superfluous?

THE CHAIR: Oh the endless points of order once again. Dean you may respond.

THE DEAN: This is not the moment to debate whether wonder weapons are a clever aspect of US propaganda. Once you deem a maneuver (ENGL manoeuver) either impossible or unnecessary the need to execute the tactic is not long in following. People in 1945 thought the Atom Bomb abolished war. Two of the encirclements occurred after 1945 when war was deemed abolished. Let me continue. The criterion the Society utilized are those set by the Chinese Master Strategist Sun Tzu in the classic Art of War.

• Sun`s first criterion is that anybody can be a soldier. This Society is an illustration of that principle. However, Master Sun opens with an interesting vignette. In the very first chapter Master Sun recounts how he trained a client king`s concubines. Given the low status of women in ancient China, this must have been a dicey introduction to the topic. People who might have disagreed with Master Sun such as Hitler who depreciated the courage of the Russians and Poles found out differently.
• The second criterion is that real soldiers don`t hate their enemy. The soldier either shows respect for the enemy`s capabilities or falls victim to them. Sun Tzu said you must know your enemy as well as you know yourself. This is expressed in Keltic mythology in the legend of Bran where all the warriors of all the armies of all ages are locked in deadly combat all day followed by a night of robust drinking. That vision of heaven, Fiddler`s Green, differs greatly from the namby - pamby Tara that the Irish might foist upon us.
• Third: In order for history to be a guide, its retelling must be objective and honest unadorned by ideology or partisanship.

As soon as the airship was invented, the potential for its uses in combat was quickly recognized.

In the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco made history when he re-supplied a cut-off garrison at the military college in Toledo by air courtesy of the Condor legion, planes and pilots mostly supplied by Germany. On July 17 1936, Colonel Jose Muscardo - Huarte contrary to orders decided to hold the military college in Toledo despite an order to blow it up and retreat. With most cadets away on summer leave, Muscardo pressed a scratch force of Moroccan MPs, cadets and civilian volunteers, into defence of the stronghold.

The Mentor: Point of Order, Lord Chair. The real heroes of the Spanish civil war were Hemmingway, The International Brigades, The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Spanish loyalists, not General Franco and his pro fascist brigands.

THE CHAIR: Mentor, your point of order is not well taken, but I will allow the Dean to respond if he so chooses. Dean?

THE DEAN: Certainly, if you examine the battle of the Alcazar, you will find ingenuity and courage on both sides. Our purpose is not to decide who was right or who was wrong but to appreciate the tactics employed. Let me continue.

Advancing Communists successfully blew away most structures of the castle but Muscardo refused to surrender. As Muscardo held out clinging to the ruins, Franco was at first inclined to let Muscardo swing for defying orders but the Military College could not so easily be allowed to fall into Communist hands. Muscardo`s spirited defence had electrified the Nationalist cause. The fortress, the Alcazar, itself, might have had no significant military value. However, its symbolic value as the former seat not only of a Mouslem Kingdom but also of the Holy Roman Empire was overpowering. Franco`s German Allies, the Condor Legion, offered to experiment with an airlift to re-supply the garrison holding out against the communist advance.

The Mentor: Point of Information, Lord Chair. When the Dean first raised this so-called airlift, I had a great deal of difficulty finding any evidence of an airlift. After much research, I think I found reference to the Condor Legion`s having dropped a Chest. Is that the airlift to which the Dean refers?

THE CHAIR: Dean you may respond.

THE DEAN: The condor Legion`s resupply of the Alcazar would only hint at the potential of airpower, it was to the continuous relief effort at Khe Sahn as the first stone wheel mankind ever ground is to the broad, rubbery, puffed up pneumonic tires on a race car. May I continue?

With the advantage of better organization, the Nationalist forces marched on Toledo. On September 23, 1936 the Nationalist lifted the siege and scattered the Communists.

The same tactic was tried unsuccessfully by the Germans at Stalingrad 19 November 1942 - 30 January 1943, British at Warsaw 4 August - 28 September 1944 and almost simultaneously at Arnheim in Holland September 17 - 26 1944 and later, in the First Indochinese War, the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

The largest airlift of World War II was the German effort at Stalingrad where the Russians under Marshall Georgy Zhukov had cornered invading German forces in a kettle. Attacks by the Red Army from November 20 - 23 1941 on German flanks defended by Italians, Roumanians, and Hungarians trapped the bulk of the German Sixth Army along with German allies in Stalingrad short of the Don River. Buoyed by a success in dealing with pockets created by the failure of the German Army to take Moscow the previous year, Germans under Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering decided to build an airbridge to resupply the 265,000 troops caught in the Cauldron. The airlift failed largely because General Freidrich Wilhelm von Paulus refused to breakout when General Erich von Manstein`s relieving force reached within 10 miles of Stalingrad. Von Paulus was captured by the Russians on 31 January 1943.

The British contemporaneously at Arnheim and at Warsaw were unsuccessful in attempting an airlift to resupply isolated units. In the Arnheim debacle, the airlift was poorly managed, delivering in one instance, according to Cornelius Ryan`s account of Operation Market Garden in A Bridge Too Far, berets to units that needed food and munitions. Armored units were unable to link up with the isolated pocket.

The Mentor: Point of Information. Was not the battle at Arnheim added to the study after the initial discussion draft that I was privileged to discuss with the Dean?

THE CHAIR: You may answer, Dean.

THE DEAN: I shall provide the Mentor with the handwritten draft which specifically cites the battle at Arnheim. One point of this discussion is that Westmoreland at Khe Sahn successfully executed a tactic that had repeatedly failed when attempted by other great powers at the height of their power. May I continue.

On the Eastern Front in 1944, Warsaw was too far removed from the reach of western allied lines to be effectively relieved; the Soviets across the river Vistula from the beleaguered Poles refused to render effective assistance; US assistance to the British airlift was token; USAAF attempted only one sortee which was grounded in Russia.

When World War II ended with the belief that the atom bomb abolished war, the collapse of the colonial empires of Britain and France touched off the Brush Fire wars to push the colonial masters out.

The Mentor: Again, my Lord Chair, I must protest most vehemently. I realize it is a contention of the Dean that in 1945 the US state department wrote a white paper planning the destruction of the overseas empires of two allies, Britain and France. I can find no evidence that this had indeed occurred.

THE CHAIR: Which didn`t happen the loss of the overseas empires or the writing of the 1945 white paper? No matter Mentor. Your comment is neither a point of order or a point of information. If it is a request for information, it is out of scope of tonight`s discussion. Dean pray proceed.

THE DEAN: After Japan`s surrender in 1945, the French attempted to reclaim their Indochinese possessions. The Vietnamese had other ideas. The First Indochina War resulted. On 20 November 1953, French paratroopers dropped into Dien Bien Phu and consolidated a position around a Japanese airfield left over from World War II. A major purpose in establishing a post in Western Vietnam, at the suggestion of the US, was to interdict supplies coming to the Vietminh from Red China. US pledged air cover if needed.

The Mentor: Point of Order, Lord Chair. Aren`t we getting ahead of ourselves? The Dean now speaks of 1954. He has omitted the 1949 airlift to West Berlin.

THE CHAIR: The 1949 airlift was not done under hostile fire. The US units inside Berlin were not under attack. Out of Order Mentor. Dean, proceed.

THE DEAN: Thank you Lord Chair. The area around Dien Bien Phu was infested with elite units of the Vietminh under the command of General Vo Nguyen Giap. Seizing on the opportunity presented, Giap cut off the French. US promised air support never materialized in any appreciable substance.

The Mentor: Again Lord Chair, the Dean contradicts himself. The Dean claims that the US planned to destroy the "evil empires" of Britain and France. Now, the Dean makes the US into a Colonialist power.

THE CHAIR: Dean, you may clear up the Mentor`s confusion if you choose.

THE DEAN: Times, motivations and personalities had changed by 1954. In 1954, the perceived evil was World Communism not Imperial Domination. Allow me to continue. French did attempt to resupply by air. France`s much acclaimed Foreign Legionnaires lined up to volunteer to parachute into Dien Bien Phu to reinforce the garrison, but by 08 May 1954 the French were forced to capitulate after two months of trench style warfare for which their commanders were unprepared. At Dien Bien Phu, French would first see the plusses and minuses of helicopters able to deliver its payload without much of a landing pad but vulnerable to ground fire while hoovering.

The defeat of the French in the battle resulted in departure of the French and partition of Vietnam into the communist North and the anti-communist South, setting the stage for the Vietnam War. According to the Geneva accords, a plebiscite would have decided the question of reunification. The weak unstable regime in the South refused to conduct the vote. What followed in the South were a series of ephemeral regimes rocked by US encouraged coups; the South`s armed force Army of the Republic of Vietnam referred to by its acronym ARVIN proved capable only of fighting itself as the Viet Cong (VC) infested the country. By 1968, the fight against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and its southern ally the Viet Cong was largely if not exclusively carried on by the Americans with some help from New Zealand, Australia and South Korea.

During the truce to mark the celebration of the Tet lunar holiday, NVA and VC on 30 January 1968 attacked Saigon, Hue and other important population centers, taking the imperial capital at Hue. Leading up to the Tet Offencive in 1968, the NVA had besieged frontier outposts guarding the Mc Namara line, a defencive position intended by US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara to curb communist infiltration of the South. The McNamara line was studded with listening devices designed to alert US forces to NVA coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos and Cambodia.

Coming under attack by NVA forces were Con Thien, an important US base in North-East South Vietnam just south of the DMZ 19 - 27 September 1967, then at Dak To 03 - 23 November 1967 and finally at Khe Sahn 21 January - 9 July 1968 where the apocalyptic battle would occur. At the time US news outlets, anticipating and even celebrating an imminent US collapse, compared those battles to the French disaster at Dien Bien Phu.

Just after midnight 30 January 1968, the VC, under cover of firecrackers from revelers, launched their attack on South Vietnamese cities. At Saigon, the VC penetrated the US Embassy but failed to capture it. The imperial city of Hue, under attack from 11 VC and NVA regiments, saw the imperial citadel fall to the Communists on 01 February 1968 after heavy resistance from ARVN.

Facing General Giap, perhaps the greatest General of the 20th Century considering his skill in defeating France and later the US in 30 years of continual fighting against major powers despite the limited resources and population of his country, General Westmoreland who had likely slept through Colonel Trevor Dupuy`s speech at the dedication of the Saratoga Battlefield warning that the VC were using the irregular tactics that had humbled mighty Britain deserves credit for organizing the logistics of the wholesale American Intervention in Vietnam and escalation of the war in 1965 after President Lyndon Baines Johnson who ascended to the Presidency in a cloud and ran as the peace candidate in 1964 decided on war. Though aware of Giap`s intention to launch an attack, Westmoreland would have placed the axis of the impending attack along the line of border outposts which constituted the McNamara Line. The number and strength of the VC attacks on South Vietnamese cities took the US high command and a clueless Westmoreland by surprise.

Most Communist attacks on the South Vietnamese cities were repulsed within a week but the reds clung to Hue until 28 February 1968 where they engaged in mass executions of civilians. Where Communist VC fortunes were sagging in Hue, NVA regulars were revving up the attack on Khe Sahn. On February 7 1968, Khe Sahn faced an assault by NVA tanks; outlying firebases came under rocket fire attack.

When President Johnson ordered the installation held at all costs, morale surged inside Khe Sahn. Westmoreland organized a resupply of the isolated garrison by air so well timed that while one giant C150 plane was taking off, another was dropping its load and a third was landing in rapid continuous succession. The siege was lifted when the 1st Air Cavalry re-opened Highway Nine to relieve the post.

The incredible victory was quickly thrown away when LBJ decided on peace negotiations which dragged on for years costing many more Vietnamese and American lives. US losses at Khe Sahn were likely around 29,000, the costliest battle of the war.

The Mentor: Point of information, Lord Chair. US casualties reported throughout the Vietnam War were only supposed to be 58,000. It seems unlikely that half the casualties were incurred at Khe Sahn.

THE CHAIR: Mentor, there are times you remind the Society of the man who came out of the Wo-Bama house with a newspaper in hand professing to know everything. You may recall the credibility gap of that war in which most if not all reported statistics were simply untrue. Out of Order. Dean proceed.

THE DEAN: Thank you Lord Chair.

LBJ`s decision to seek peace rather than follow up on the victory crushed morale and ended any realistic chance of a US victory. In a more immediate sense, the McNamara line was abandoned; any serious thought of US victory was needlessly frittered away.

General Giap might have been the greatest General of all time if he had reprised at Khe Sahn his victory 14 years earlier at Dien Bien Phu. However, his ability in 1968 fighting the Americans to shift the focus of the attack from Southern cities to the McNamara line as the attack on the major cities of the south faltered, from dislodging the wobbly South Vietnamese regime to defeating the Americans in the great conflagration the American strategists predicted or prayed would occur has to be regarded as sheer brilliance.

Just as President Johnson crushed the spirit of the troops he rallied to hold Khe Sahn by turning into a shrinking violetta at a moment of the greatest triumph in the history of air power where Britain and Germany at the height of their power had failed, Giap also reaped the benefit of the virtual destruction of the Viet Cong in the Tet offencive. The prospect of an independent though communist republic in the South vanished. Only one unified Communist Vietnam would emerge from the war.

Told many years later that Westmoreland had disputed the acclaim many historians give Giap as the greatest General of the 20th century, Giap smiled, shook his head and laughed. Westmoreland had remained clueless to the point of undermining his own victory.

In retrospect it would have been better for both Vietnam and America if the holdouts at Khe Sahn had simply surrendered. Thank you, Lord Chair, Lords President, distinguished member of the society and of the Military Sciences Committee.

THE CHAIR: That concludes the Dean`s speech.

The Mentor: Point of Information. Before we close Lord Chair. Isn`t this topic entirely academic rendered moot by technological improvements? I believe the Dean breezed over my prior objection on this ground.

THE CHAIR: Dean, do you have an answer?

THE DEAN: I have spoken of resupply by air in a defencive mode. Apparently the term `airhead` appeared in the military lexicon around 1950 to indicate an advanced position behind enemy lines from which offensive operations may be waged. In his fictional study of a theoretical war between Soviet Russia and the US in which the Red Army rolls through the Fulga gap into West Germany, Sir John Hackett describes such an operation. Thus the need to resupply a unit by an "airbridge" had been recognized as late as the publication of Sir John`s most fascinating fictional account of The Third World War in 1985. Of course, little truth has come out of the Wars in Irak and Afghanistan where inadequate forces are separated by miles of hostile territory. Relief and resupply by air would appear to be essential. Though we have no details of such operations, we have been feted with fantastic yarns of wonder weapons which seem to vanish when on those occasions like Benghazi and the Boston Marathon, wonder weapons are dearly needed. I hope this answers the Mentor`s question.

THE CHAIR: I am closing this session of the Society. The Society will rise until it is next called into session at the bang of the gavel.