RIPPLE SALVO… #194… CAUSE FOR WAR… but first…
Good Morning… Day ONE HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR of a return to the past and the air war over North Vietnam…
11 SEPTEMBER 1966… THE FRONT PAGE NEWS AT HOME…NYT… A partly sunny and cool Sunday in New York…
Page 1: “Balloting Begins For An Assembly In South Vietnam”…”South Vietnam began voting today to elect a national constituent assembly that will draft a new constitution meant to lead to eventual democratic government…As of noon Sunday about 37 per cent of the country’s registered voters had cast ballots…In the northern provinces where the Buddhist dissent was strongest last spring reports showed that voters were turning out in large numbers…Terrorist activity, meanwhile, increased sharply with 90 acts reported across the country in a 24-hour period…the Vietcong and North Vietnamese have denounced the elections and have asked the people to ‘smash’ them. It was difficult to judge this morning how widespread or how effective intimidation attempts by guerrillas might be limiting the voting.”….Page 1: “To Rally Voters In South Vietnam”…Saigon Government posters reminding voters to vote contain the following additional reminders: (1) Study the political platforms of the candidates, (2) Listen to the candidates speeches, (3) Beware of demagogues and opportunists, (4) Participate in seminars, (5) Stay away from extremist elements, (6) Choose candidates and parties you personally think the most useful to the country, (7) Give a helping hand to your favorite candidates and parties, (8) Be ready to accept the will of the majority by respecting the elected candidates, and (9) And above all–go to the poles.”
Page 1: “New Johnson Bid Rejected By Hanoi”…”The North Vietnamese Foreign Ministry rejected today President Johnson’s offer to withdraw United States troops from South Vietnam if North Vietnam withdraws its forces. The 1000-word text of a Foreign Ministry statement was distributed by the North Vietnamese press agency. Mr. Johnson’s proposal was ridiculed earlier by Nham Dan, the North Vietnamese newspaper. The Foreign Ministry said President Johnson’s offer to ‘lay on the table the schedule of withdrawal’ of United States troops from South Vietnam, if infiltration by North Vietnam was halted and if the ‘Northern forces illegally in South Vietnam’ were withdrawn too, was an ‘insolent allegation.’…’The United States actually wants that the Vietnamese people to lay down their arms and let it freely rule over South Vietnam. It is the United States and none other that is the aggressor. The United States Government has no right whatsoever to demand that the Vietnamese people accept such conditions.’…Another statement today by Hanoi denied that a Yugoslavia report that Premier Pham Van Dong had sought soviet support for peace move in Vietnam…Page 28: Additional comment from the Hanoi 1000-word statement: “As soon as the United States puts an end to its aggression and withdraws all U.S. and satellite troops from South Vietnam, peace will immediately return to Vietnam. So long as the United States continues its aggression against Vietnam, the Vietnamese people will resolutely fight against it to defend their national rights and the independence of the fatherland, thus making their contribution to the defense of peace in Southwest Asia and the world. The greater the obduracy of the U.S. aggressors, the more ignominious their defeats. The Vietnamese people have won and are winning. They will certainly defeat the U.S. aggressors and win final victory.”….also a few references to “the savage bombing and strafing of North Vietnam…”
Page 1: “Clay Stops Mildenburger; Emerson Upset In Tennis“…”Cassius Clay retained his world heavyweight boxing championship by stopping Karl Mildenberger, the European champion in the 12th round at Frankfort, Germany…Clay now has a professional career record of 26 victories and no defeats… Tennis: A pair of unseeded Australians, John Newcombe and Fred Stolle dropped the top two seeded players in the U.S. grass court championships at Forest Hills, Queens. Newcombe defeated Manual Santana, and Stolle beat Roy Emerson…Pro Football: The “Green Bay Packers Routed the Baltimore Colts 24-3”in the opener of the National League system.”… “Negro Is Slain In Atlanta Setting Off New Violence”…”Two Negro youths and as white policeman were shot in a new outbreak of racial violence here (Atlanta) last night. One of the Negroes was killed…the other youth and the policeman were in satisfactory condition. A crowd of some 400 Negroes gathered and broke into violence when the police arrived to investigate…Sgt. Maurice Spears, the first policeman on the scene was shot in the back of the head but was not wounded seriously…the Negro youths, both aged 16, were shot from a car carrying two white men and a white woman.”… Page 1: ‘Rockwell Sized in Chicago March”… “George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party was arrested today shortly after an anti-Negro march through the edge of a black neighborhood. The marchers, 150 strong and mostly teenagers were greeted with scattered violence, boos and cat calls, but they were ignored by much of the Negro community.”… Page 1: “Chamber Denounces Johnson Tax Plan”…”The Chamber of Commerce said today that President Johnson’s proposals to increase taxes painlessly in an election year ‘might prove disastrous for American industry.’…”
11 SEPTEMBER 1966… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… NYT (page5)… United States planes flew 122 missions over North Vietnam and struck targets northwest of Hanoi, in the area between the DMZ and Dong hoi. Navy missions attacked targets in and around Vinh and Thanh Hoa… there were no aircraft reported lost …”Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson): There were no fixed wing aircraft lost in Southeast Asia on 11 September 1966… ooohrah!
RIPPLE SALVO… #194… Another “day of infamy” and a cause for war. Today we pause to remember the 9/11 incidents of terrorism and attacks on our homeland by Islamic warriors sacrificing their miserable lives in the name of Allah to slay 3,000 innocent Americans … It is appropriate that we do this in the memory of those who perished on 9/11, especially the brave responders who laid down their lives to save the lives of others. Their acts of heroism are never to be forgotten…
But there is more to this day of remembrance. This day, 11 September 2016, also marks the 15th anniversary of our “war on terrorism.”
As a direct consequence of the 9/11, 2001 attack on our homeland, our leaders directed and have sustained an undeclared war on Islamic terrorism for 15 years. Unfortunately, we have failed to put out the fires of Islamic radicalism. In fact, the flames grow higher while our nation expends trillions of precious dollars and other valuable resources executing a strategy remarkably akin to our mismanagement of the war in Vietnam. We are pursuing an undeclared war, timidly, with no clear objective, and in defiance of the principles of war …
Over the last 15 years we have cleaned out our treasury and sacrificed more than 5,000 warriors lives in “the longest war in our history.” And what do we have to show for it?… So far, the scalp of Osama Bin Laden. Otherwise, about the same result we came away with from our misadventures in Vietnam, where we sacrificed 58,000 brave men to provide a lesson in ‘how not to fight a war.” …That’s my opinion, what’s yours?
Lest we forget… Bear… ………. –30– ……….