warspite1ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
I have answered that: There was no uprising by the common people.
...and I still haven't said there was.
warspite1ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Gorbachev wasn't overthrown.
I could have used a better word - but its semantics.
warspite1ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Why Gorbachev acted as he did is irrelevant. What he did is what mattered.
Absolutely its a case of what he did that mattered!! There is no argument there.
warspite1ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
Ending the war was a sign of military weakness and precipitated the collapse. It doesn't matter where it happened. Viet Nam wasn't part of the USA either, but was a clear sign of military weakness.
But I don't think it was military weakness. It takes enormous courage not to follow the herd - there are some fights that just can't be won - or even if they can, they are simply not worth the cost. Continuing such a fight is weakness - taking action to stop the madness is courageous.
I repeat, the collapse was well underway thanks to everything that was going on before the pull out of Afghanistan.