-
ViaSat to modify Air Force JSC
Published: May 13, 2008 at 2:07 PM
CARLSBAD, Calif., May 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force announced it has contracted ViaSat Inc. to implement a new communication link on the joint communication simulator. -
DynCorp International names new president
Published: May 13, 2008 at 1:51 PM
FALLS CHURCH, Va., May 13 (UPI) -- Defense contractor DynCorp International Inc., based in Virginia, has named a new president and chief executive officer. -
HemCon selected for LHP development
Published: May 13, 2008 at 1:30 PM
PORTLAND, Ore., May 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army announced a contract with HemCon Medical Technologies Inc. for the development of battlefield resuscitation lyophilized human plasma.
-
Analysis: China copter deal -- Part 1
Published: May 13, 2008 at 4:58 PM
By MARTIN SIEFF
UPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- The long freeze in Russia's enormously lucrative arms trade with China may be coming to an end as the Kremlin has agreed to sell Mi-171 transport helicopter assembly kits to Beijing. -
Military Matters: A time to cut -- Part 2
Published: May 13, 2008 at 11:03 AM
By WILLIAM S. LIND
WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- How can the United States seriously cut its military spending while retaining and improving its national security? -
Defense Focus: Numbers count -- Part 2
Published: May 13, 2008 at 10:46 AM
By MARTIN SIEFF
UPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- Wars destroy lots of weapons systems as well as lots of people. That is why major powers still need lots of soldiers and lots of relatively cheap, easily manufactured and easily replaced weapons systems. -
Outside View: Russian-Iran nuke moves
Published: May 13, 2008 at 10:31 AM
By PYOTR GONCHAROV
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, May 13 (UPI) -- Has Russia decided to join the U.N. sanctions against Iran? Will the new president shift Russia's policy regarding Iran to the West? -
Analysis: European defense contracts
Published: May 12, 2008 at 2:58 PM
By LEANDER SCHAERLAECKENS
UPI Correspondent
BRUSSELS, May 12 (UPI) -- U.K. Ministry of Defense announces FRES contract; After France, U.K. sells to Libya; Saab profits drop on back of Gripen costs -
Military Matters: A time to cut -- Part 1
Published: May 12, 2008 at 2:45 PM
By WILLIAM S. LIND
WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- At a recent book party for Winslow Wheeler's new history of the military reform movement of the 1970s and 1980s, I was asked for my views on the prospects for genuine reform. I replied, "So long as the money flow continues, nothing will change." Chuck Spinney, a reformer who spent decades as a polyp in the bowels of the U.S. Department of Defense, agreed.
Latest Headlines
Most Popular
- Air pollution linked to blood clots in leg
- China's quake horror revealed
- Dead baby found in casino bathroom
- Social phobia shows biochemical difference
- Student protests school no-hugging rule
- U.N. shuts down Afghan refugee office
- Fraud unit digs into Olmert's past
- 'Gas can' turns out to hold orange juice
- Student protests school no-hugging rule
- 'Gas can' turns out to hold orange juice
- Australian safety official loses license
- News anchor apologizes for saying F-word
- Web program helps drivers fight tickets
- Man forced to sit on toilet sues JetBlue
- Man charged for tossing M&Ms at cop
- UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News
Outside View: Vietnam weapons -- Part 1
Published: May 9, 2008 at 11:34 AM
By ILYA KRAMNIK
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, May 9 (UPI) -- A red flag was raised over the Palace of Independence in Saigon at 11:30 a.m. on April 30, 1975, signaling the official end of the second Indochinese war, which broke out in the late 1950s.
That war is all the more interesting now because its course and consequences evoke associations with the current conflict in Iraq.
A major conflict in the second half of the 20th century, the Indochinese war was waged in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Split into southern and northern parts by the 1954 Geneva accords, Vietnam became the main theater of military operations. It was supposed to reunite after free elections in 1956, but the pro-American regime of Ngo Dinh Diem wrecked the accords and unilaterally proclaimed the formation of the sovereign republic of Vietnam.
It launched agrarian reforms that canceled rural self-government and cracked down on the communist opposition. As a result, a smoldering guerrilla war started in 1957.
In 1959 the Ho Chi Minh-led government of North Vietnam decided to support the guerrillas by supplying them with weapons and sending military advisers to the south.
Initially, supplies were carried out through the demilitarized zone along the 17th parallel, which divided the two Vietnams. But before long, they started bypassing this zone by following the Ho Chi Minh trail -- a system of paths passing parallel to the border with Vietnam on the territory of Laos and Cambodia. The guerrillas in South Vietnam united into the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, which later became known as Viet Cong.
Practically at the same time, the war spread into Laos, where government forces were fighting against the Pathet Lao pro-communist movement -- Patriotic Front of Laos.
The escalating war compelled the United States to help its puppet Diem. In 1961 Washington sent the first two helicopter squadrons to South Vietnam to increase the mobility of the South Vietnamese special forces. U.S. military advisers started arriving in Vietnam in large numbers.
The unstable, corrupt and unpopular South Vietnamese government guaranteed the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese considerable military successes. Only direct U.S. intervention could prevent the Viet Cong from scoring inevitable victory.
The excuse for intervention came on Aug. 2, 1964. In the official U.S. version, North Vietnamese motor boats attacked an American destroyer, which was conducting radio-electronic surveillance in the neutral Gulf of Tonkin. This incident was repeated on the night of Aug. 4. The following day, deck-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy dealt the first blows against North Vietnamese targets.
On the same day, Aug. 5, the U.S. Congress adopted the Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the president to use armed force in Southeast Asia.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson did not rush to intervene -- escalation of the war could harm his image as a dove of peace in the 1964 elections. Barry Goldwater, his opponent, was a hawk. In the meantime, the Viet Cong continued its offensive, capturing more and more land. By this time, North Vietnam was already supporting the guerrillas with regular troops.
As a result, in March 1965 Johnson decided to send a military contingent to Vietnam.
--
Next: Russian weapon systems in Vietnam
--
(Ilya Kramnik is a military correspondent for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)
--
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
UPI Outside View Commentator
MOSCOW, May 9 (UPI) -- A red flag was raised over the Palace of Independence in Saigon at 11:30 a.m. on April 30, 1975, signaling the official end of the second Indochinese war, which broke out in the late 1950s.
That war is all the more interesting now because its course and consequences evoke associations with the current conflict in Iraq.
A major conflict in the second half of the 20th century, the Indochinese war was waged in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Split into southern and northern parts by the 1954 Geneva accords, Vietnam became the main theater of military operations. It was supposed to reunite after free elections in 1956, but the pro-American regime of Ngo Dinh Diem wrecked the accords and unilaterally proclaimed the formation of the sovereign republic of Vietnam.
It launched agrarian reforms that canceled rural self-government and cracked down on the communist opposition. As a result, a smoldering guerrilla war started in 1957.
In 1959 the Ho Chi Minh-led government of North Vietnam decided to support the guerrillas by supplying them with weapons and sending military advisers to the south.
Initially, supplies were carried out through the demilitarized zone along the 17th parallel, which divided the two Vietnams. But before long, they started bypassing this zone by following the Ho Chi Minh trail -- a system of paths passing parallel to the border with Vietnam on the territory of Laos and Cambodia. The guerrillas in South Vietnam united into the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, which later became known as Viet Cong.
Practically at the same time, the war spread into Laos, where government forces were fighting against the Pathet Lao pro-communist movement -- Patriotic Front of Laos.
The escalating war compelled the United States to help its puppet Diem. In 1961 Washington sent the first two helicopter squadrons to South Vietnam to increase the mobility of the South Vietnamese special forces. U.S. military advisers started arriving in Vietnam in large numbers.
The unstable, corrupt and unpopular South Vietnamese government guaranteed the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese considerable military successes. Only direct U.S. intervention could prevent the Viet Cong from scoring inevitable victory.
The excuse for intervention came on Aug. 2, 1964. In the official U.S. version, North Vietnamese motor boats attacked an American destroyer, which was conducting radio-electronic surveillance in the neutral Gulf of Tonkin. This incident was repeated on the night of Aug. 4. The following day, deck-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy dealt the first blows against North Vietnamese targets.
On the same day, Aug. 5, the U.S. Congress adopted the Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the president to use armed force in Southeast Asia.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson did not rush to intervene -- escalation of the war could harm his image as a dove of peace in the 1964 elections. Barry Goldwater, his opponent, was a hawk. In the meantime, the Viet Cong continued its offensive, capturing more and more land. By this time, North Vietnam was already supporting the guerrillas with regular troops.
As a result, in March 1965 Johnson decided to send a military contingent to Vietnam.
--
Next: Russian weapon systems in Vietnam
--
(Ilya Kramnik is a military correspondent for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)
--
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
