Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
*This entire post is supposed to be a joke. A send up of American stereotypes. Calm down.
Had me a bit pissed off there for a sec
Best achievements:
Helped out a lot in world war 2
Had a successful revolution then stabilized quickly (Except for the civil war I guess)
(mostly) free speech
NASA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and everything it has done except the stuff that asplodered.
Worst achievements:
Had our @$$es handed to us in the Vietnam war
A lot of us are fat
The south
Religious nuts (Yeah I know there are religious nuts everywhere)
We think we have to make everyone a democracy
The south again
American cheese is disgusting
We killed a lot of indians.
Fox News
Segregation
Slavery
I live in the south, so I know firsthand
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2011/07/06 23:31:54
May the the blessings of His Grace the Emperor tumble down upon you like a golden fog. (Only a VERY select few will get this reference. And it's not from 40k. )
LordofHats wrote:...Massive contributions to the concepts of logistics and force projection...
This is largely true for force projection as it allows you to win wars without ever firing a shot.
Not just that but the ability to exert military power over large areas. The Britis were the masters prior to the dawn of the 20th Century, but by WWII the US overtook them. Britain never managed to move millions of tons of manpower and material across three thousand miles of ocean and land it on about 70 miles of beach.
In warfare, that's logistical act of god (to turn of colorful phrase).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/07/07 20:30:22
Vietnam and Korea are grey areas, all the NVA had to do was make the american people feel badly about the war and we lost. The Tet Offensive was one of the worst series of fights for the NVA and guerrillas, but it did its job, once the american people saw footage of US soldiers dieing in the streets they had enough.
Also, the south provides agriculture along with the midwest. Not to mention the number of homes for the powers that be, Langley for example is the home of the CIA and located in the south. Then there's Fort Knox in Tennessee which is also in the south and home to a tank training facility. Then there's the uniformed fellows who march in the inaugeration parade from Virginia Military Institute, which is kind of prestigious you know.
I think you mean deep south, which is more of a mind set and not an actual location seeing as though deep south syndrome affects relatively isolated locations.
Albatross wrote:I would say that the massive cultural influence that Ireland has had, and continues to have, is a fairly amazing achievement. There would be no rock 'n' roll, for example without Irish traditional music. No blues, no gospel, no modern folk music, no John Lennon, no Paul McCartney.... and that's just pop music. What about literature? Acting?
What about Guinness?!??
I'm not sure if maybe it was a joke, but I'm just really curious what Irish folk music has to do with black slave music from the southern US.
Achievements:
- insulin
- Vimy ridge
- Juno beach
- all of those Heritage Moments commercials pretty much cover it (Canadians will know what I'm talking about).
Failures:
- for some reason Anglos and Francophones still can't get along? Ridiculous. Canada does very poorly with recognizing it's multicultural heritage.
- all Canadian pop music except for the Tragically Hip, Neil Young, and the Guess Who.
- still having a Governor-General. It's the 21st century, for crying out loud.
halonachos wrote:
Vietnam and Korea are grey areas, all the NVA had to do was make the american people feel badly about the war and we lost. The Tet Offensive was one of the worst series of fights for the NVA and guerrillas, but it did its job, once the american people saw footage of US soldiers dieing in the streets they had enough.
Korea isn't really a gray area, it was a pretty clear victory, albeit North Korea would probably not exist today had MacArthur stopped after taking Pyongyang.
Vietnam wasn't really a gray area either. Regardless of whether or not our forces performed well at a tactical level, the war was a strategic failure.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
Vietnam and Korea are grey areas, all the NVA had to do was make the american people feel badly about the war and we lost. The Tet Offensive was one of the worst series of fights for the NVA and guerrillas, but it did its job, once the american people saw footage of US soldiers dieing in the streets they had enough.
Also, the south provides agriculture along with the midwest. Not to mention the number of homes for the powers that be, Langley for example is the home of the CIA and located in the south. Then there's Fort Knox in Tennessee which is also in the south and home to a tank training facility. Then there's the uniformed fellows who march in the inaugeration parade from Virginia Military Institute, which is kind of prestigious you know.
I think you mean deep south, which is more of a mind set and not an actual location seeing as though deep south syndrome affects relatively isolated locations.
May the the blessings of His Grace the Emperor tumble down upon you like a golden fog. (Only a VERY select few will get this reference. And it's not from 40k. )
Best:
* William Shakespeare
* Winston Churchill
* Sir Isaac Newton
* Charles Darwin
* The Beatles
* Black Sabbath
* Led Zeppelin
* Pink Floyd
* Alexander Fleming
* The British Empire
* The Battle of Britain
* Waterloo
Worst:
* Manchester United
* Ultramarines
* The British Empire
* Margaret Thatcher
* The BNP
Korea isn't really a gray area, it was a pretty clear victory, albeit North Korea would probably not exist today had MacArthur stopped after taking Pyongyang.
Vietnam wasn't really a gray area either. Regardless of whether or not our forces performed well at a tactical level, the war was a strategic failure.
Well, given that the Korean War pretty much ended status quo ante bellum, you could describe it as a stalemate. North Korea itself was soundly defeated, but after the Chinese intervention, the UN forces basically only achieved a stalemate. However, the Korean War was still a strategic victory for the UN. The UN forces achieved their objective of maintaining the independence of South Korea, and the DPRK failed to take over South Korea.
Vietnam was, as you said, a massive strategic failure on the US's part.
"If everything on Earth were rational, nothing would ever happen."
~Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
~Hanlon's Razor
halonachos wrote:Vietnam and Korea are grey areas, all the NVA had to do was make the american people feel badly about the war and we lost. The Tet Offensive was one of the worst series of fights for the NVA and guerrillas, but it did its job, once the american people saw footage of US soldiers dieing in the streets they had enough.
You had ten years to win in Vietnam. While the US soldiers were tactically superior, they were incapable of defeating revolutionary forces in the South entirely, or preventing troops moving in from the North. If you can't do that in ten years, it's pretty unlikely you'll ever be able to do it. Consider that in the light of Afghanistan today.
Also, the south provides agriculture along with the midwest. Not to mention the number of homes for the powers that be, Langley for example is the home of the CIA and located in the south. Then there's Fort Knox in Tennessee which is also in the south and home to a tank training facility. Then there's the uniformed fellows who march in the inaugeration parade from Virginia Military Institute, which is kind of prestigious you know.
When government places national centres are placed away from the capital, it is to create employment in areas that are otherwise struggling for employment. Langley isn't in Virgnia because only Virginia could possibly build an administration for the nation's spies...
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
Albatross wrote:I would say that the massive cultural influence that Ireland has had, and continues to have, is a fairly amazing achievement. There would be no rock 'n' roll, for example without Irish traditional music. No blues, no gospel, no modern folk music, no John Lennon, no Paul McCartney.... and that's just pop music. What about literature? Acting?
What about Guinness?!??
I'm not sure if maybe it was a joke, but I'm just really curious what Irish folk music has to do with black slave music from the southern US.
So-called 'black slave music' has its roots in the devotional music and folk traditions of the British Isles, in addition, of course, to the African griot tradition, and west African music in general. Christianity played a massive role in the early culture of African-Americans, and it is particularly in the churches that the acculturation of British, Irish and African styles takes place, as well as in the fields. There are some early blues songs that can be traced back to early English broadside ballad themes - these, in fact, inform more or less all songs written in the English language today. Also, early gospel music is massively influenced by traditional Irish 'airs' in terms of melody.
ChrisWWII wrote:
Well, given that the Korean War pretty much ended status quo ante bellum, you could describe it as a stalemate. North Korea itself was soundly defeated, but after the Chinese intervention, the UN forces basically only achieved a stalemate. However, the Korean War was still a strategic victory for the UN. The UN forces achieved their objective of maintaining the independence of South Korea, and the DPRK failed to take over South Korea.
In general I don't think its reasonable to think of individual wars as victories or defeats outside of the strategic context, which is why I classify Korea as a clear victory. Sure, there's still a de facto state of war, but the reality is that such a fact would be appreciated as a technicality in any historical account of the hostilities between North and South if open war ever came about again.
ChrisWWII wrote:
Vietnam was, as you said, a massive strategic failure on the US's part.
It also exposed the foolishness of thinking in terms of communists vs. capitalists. For whatever reason, there was this pervasive idea that the communist bloc was somehow more contiguous than NATO, which lead a lot of US planners to ignore not only the divisions inside the USSR, but also the fact that China wasn't a part of the USSR.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
metallifan wrote:I'd like to add to Cheesecat's earlier Canada list and mention Bob and Doug McKenzie
Oh Take Off!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
sebster wrote:
halonachos wrote:Vietnam and Korea are grey areas, all the NVA had to do was make the american people feel badly about the war and we lost. The Tet Offensive was one of the worst series of fights for the NVA and guerrillas, but it did its job, once the american people saw footage of US soldiers dieing in the streets they had enough.
You had ten years to win in Vietnam. While the US soldiers were tactically superior, they were incapable of defeating revolutionary forces in the South entirely, or preventing troops moving in from the North. If you can't do that in ten years, it's pretty unlikely you'll ever be able to do it. Consider that in the light of Afghanistan today.
Also, the south provides agriculture along with the midwest. Not to mention the number of homes for the powers that be, Langley for example is the home of the CIA and located in the south. Then there's Fort Knox in [/b]Kentucky[b] which is also in the south and home to a tank training facility. Then there's the uniformed fellows who march in the inaugeration parade from Virginia Military Institute, which is kind of prestigious you know.
When government places national centres are placed away from the capital, it is to create employment in areas that are otherwise struggling for employment. Langley isn't in Virgnia because only Virginia could possibly build an administration for the nation's spies...
I would disagree, our biggest obstacle was fighting to win "hearts and minds". Tet was not a huge defeat for the US, it was a colossal disaster for the NVA as they had almost 45,000 killed and over 111,000 casualties in a matter of 7-8 months. It was portrayed as a Northern victory by the likes of Walter Cronkite who used the first TV coverage of a war to his political advantage and influenced lots of people here in to believing that we were losing. I will say the the South's government was incredibly corrupt, but much like most countries we've supported since 1945, it's the old way of thinking that: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Considering we had OSS advisors in Vietnam as early as 1939 I think we'd had plenty of time. It was a matter of wielding the right tools and not allowing arbitrary rules to play into a fight between a guerilla force and a legitimate standing army. Guerillas, combatants and partisans can still be executed under the 4th Geneva accords. We are fighting the Taliban today with damn kid gloves, just like we did in Vietnam. It's ludicrous to play fair when one side doesn't.
I wouldn't consider the Afghani's as great fighters either. The British left because it's usefulness had run it's course and it was a logistical nightmare to supply. The Russians saw that their puppet government wasn't very strong and tried to fix it, then failed in doing so and proceeded to carpet bomb multiple cities and wasted lots of time doing nothing there except patrol and clean out nests of Mujahadeen. This proceeded to anger more Muslims around the globe and only strengthened anti-USSR sentiment around the globe. We're trying to build it up and leave but most of the citizenry is too far gone down an unreachable path of antipathy for the west (I can't really blame them either).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/07/09 05:09:26
Catachan LIX "Lords Of Destruction" - Put Away
1943-1944 Era 1250 point Großdeutchland Force - Bolt Action
"The best medicine for Wraithlords? Multilasers. The best way to kill an Avatar? Lasguns."
"Time to pour out some liquor for the pinkmisted Harlequins"
Mr. Self Destruct wrote:
GERMANY!
As 95% ethnic German:
+Politicians
no, just nooooooo
must be the missing 5%....
Politicians are the worst you can find here.
I dunno man, you chaps have had worse politicians in the past, compared to now...
Stormrider wrote:We are fighting the Taliban today with damn kid gloves, just like we did in Vietnam. It's ludicrous to play fair when one side doesn't.
...Are you sure? We (that is, the Allies) are assassinating Taliban leader as a matter of course, and not just in Afghanistan. And THAT is at the same time as trying to open up a political dialogue with them. I wouldn't call that 'kid gloves' or 'playing fair', not that I neccesarily disagree with those tactics, mind. The Taliban have been malleted over the last decade or so - that isn't the problem. The problem is keeping the locals onside long enough to actually make a difference - the more of them caught up in the violence, the greater the resentment grows, and the more young lads who flock to the Taliban. Or at least, that's my take on it.
dajobe wrote:There is only one team in Manchester!!!(manu is in salford)
-All I need to do is post this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions Try and see just how many people could live without in the modern era.
-Free University Education. -Down to earth people.
Cons:
-No independence.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/07/10 02:09:47
-All I need to do is post this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions Try and see just how many people could live without in the modern era.
-Free University Education. -Down to earth people.
Cons:
-No independence.
I'll add one
Pros- In certain events men can wear skirts because of the scots
-Scotch
Cons-Seeing hairy men wearing skirts.....
-When was the last time they won a war?
DA 4000 points W/L/D 6e 3/2/0
IG 1500 points W/L/D 6e 0/2/0
And 100% Primed!
We haven't won a war on our own; but much of the success of the British empire in battle was due to having Scots in charge of many of its significant battles; which we happened to win. From all sorts of battles, such as the Indian uprising.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/07/10 09:05:17
We haven't won a war on our own; but much of the success of the British empire in battle was due to having Scots in charge of many of its significant battles; which we happened to win. From all sorts of battles, such as the Indian uprising.
Fair enough I suppose....
DA 4000 points W/L/D 6e 3/2/0
IG 1500 points W/L/D 6e 0/2/0
And 100% Primed!
Are Scottish people more down to earth than any other people?
What about the legions of brainwashed sectarian thugs that are ridiculously nationalistic? Are they down to earth?
If so, i fail to see how being down to earth is a good thing.
We are arming Syrian rebels who support ISIS, who is fighting Iran, who is fighting Iraq who we also support against ISIS, while fighting Kurds who we support while they are fighting Syrian rebels.
Asherian Command wrote:
Worst Achievements..... Oh dear....
Hunted down the Aborigines
Kinda Racist
Boomerang politics
Ridicilious taxes
Stupid pointless racism
The Satirist's of the world.
Make lots of jokes when they are not needed
Horrible Military (ITs pathetic they only have 150 planes. what the hell.....)
Their Health, they are not up to date with cancer treatment.
i feel like i have to correct some of this:
-technically, it was the British who hunted down the natives, we just are the generation that inherited the blame (but yes, it's still one of australia's darkest hours)
-Australia doesn't really need a large military force, considering they are only being used to improve relationship with the US/UN - and i think the term "quality not quantity" comes into play (even though our equipment is gak in comparison to the US, training of the personnel is pretty spot on).
i feel like i have to correct some of this:
-technically, it was the British who hunted down the natives, we just are the generation that inherited the blame (but yes, it's still one of australia's darkest hours)
-Australia doesn't really need a large military force, considering they are only being used to improve relationship with the US/UN - and i think the term "quality not quantity" comes into play (even though our equipment is gak in comparison to the US, training of the personnel is pretty spot on).
rest is solid.
Well no country is great without a genocide in its history......and I think training for AU troops is pretty much same as most NATO nations.
DA 4000 points W/L/D 6e 3/2/0
IG 1500 points W/L/D 6e 0/2/0
And 100% Primed!