Until you realise what a strawman is you will disgrace yourself by making outrageous, baseless accusations against others and have a deranged view of reality.

Here's a hint, in case you are clueless...

Belly > "How can you confer saint hood on such as the Taliban?"

Where did I do so? What was my argument?

>"and can you truly think they are no threat to western lifestyle?"

Do you know who the Taliban are? Do you even know their history?

And lastly,

>"Again leftist rabbits seemingly hurling insults at one side..."

I'm not sure what to say...it's incredible how deluded you are. Here you slur all people from the political spectrum that they call the left and deign to accuse others of hurling insults? Perhaps you think my criticism of your comment was insulting? As the victim of your own ignorance, that may be so, but at least my "insult" was a rational deduction that you misrepresented me, which is correct. Not only that, you failed to take the advice at face value and learn from your mistakes, because you repeated the same strawman.

And on this topic of insults, I've seen perhaps a dozen instances of the tired, old 'leftists' jibe from people who seem to be from 'Rightists', usually morphed or attached to some pejorative term such as "rabbits" (Perseus, EasyTimes, Paul L. and yourself). Conversely I haven't noticed the reverse! Let He who is without Sin cast the first stone. How is that for a bible quote?

Left wing! Interesting. LOL. Convincing one's self, that Iam right, is man kinds invention's. Is that my IQ that has suddenly dropped in the last five minutes. Hello people! Our boys did not need to die!
I see things in the big picture. So have fun fight with your own brains.

Steel,

You say” You should learn about the conditions prior to the start of the war. The communists in the south would have been elected had not the election been rigged and the people defrauded. Secondly they suffered persecution and were executed by the government. “

So its OK to invade a neigbouring country if the elections are rigged and the people are being persecuted? In that case you wouldn’t object to our invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? And by your logic Saddam and the Taliban/Al Qaeda are responsible for all the casualties of these conflicts as well.

http://www.petitiononline.com/vietland/petition.html
A partial list of Vietnamese communist atrocities

You still haven’t explained why, if the people wanted the communists to rule, over 2 million Vietnamese left the country in great haste, any way they could.

Steel > First you wrongly accused me about Locke. And now it's *everyone who served in Vietnam*? Wrong again
But steel 29/10/2007 Please stop idolising soldiers and treating them all like the martyrs the military wants you to believe. They shoot civilians like you and me all the time. They break property, beat, torture, rape and steal”

How that for stereotyping, or were you just giving an EXAMPLE? Especially insensitive considering the topic is the death of Sgt Locke in Afghanistan.

Steel play your verbal tennis! however it may be worth noting the game is a different one.
Do I know who the Taliban are?
Yes I understand the word means student.
Of what however?
Bigoted hate?
destructor's of other faiths history?
Murderers for sure.
Can I here now without being censured say a simple thing, have I the right in my country?
I question EVERY GOD, believe in none?
I can say that about the Christian God but can I say it about the God of the Taliban?
If my view is right can the world justifies so many deaths ? so many murders in the name of a God?
Your probing insults on the west and silence on the other side is evidence that talks for its self.
Me left or right? ALP center unity and proud of it forever.
Your self confidence is miss placed steel try as hard as I can I find nothing of Merritt in your posts .
You however have my sympathy for your blindness to the world as it is and as it could be..

Paul L. > "So its OK to invade a neigbouring country if the elections are rigged and the people are being persecuted? In that case you wouldn’t object to our invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? And by your logic Saddam and the Taliban/Al Qaeda are responsible for all the casualties of these conflicts as well."

I have difficulty trying to judge it but in some ways it's a flawed comparison. I don't see them as two seperate countries, particularly as the country was divided by a foreign international comittee and that the separation was to be temporary. Apparently the same party (Dinh Diem's) in South Vietnam that was responsible for executing communists by the thousand and which held a fraudulent election, cancelled the reunification elections scheduled by the 1954 Geneva Accords.

From Wikipedia > "According to the Geneva Agreements the country was divided at the 17th parallel into Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem's South Vietnam after the example of Korea. This was intended to be temporary, pending an election in 1956, which never took place."

I would have supported in principle an Iraqi uprising. If Hussein had been assassinated *by one of his victims* (not a foreign government) I would not have condemned it. I'm against this unilateralism especially without regard to the opinions of the people on both sides. Iraqis have not been listened to since Hussein's regime was toppled. I opposed the initial invasion because for one, it's a foreign war of aggression against a sovereign country and two, I saw the lies for what they were.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Iraqis+want+US+out

> "You still haven’t explained why, if the people wanted the communists to rule, over 2 million Vietnamese left the country in great haste, any way they could."

Because in some ways they didn't know what they were in for! >.< More accurately perhaps, many those who left were probably enemy sympathisers, party officials and catholics with their religious organisations. After being hunted down, tortured and killed by Dien's regime, the communists were probably very angry!

I have no concerns in my belief America is lead by at best an idiot, that the great country is in trouble.
That a second best team is running for the Democrats, but America lead by whatever team must fight in Afghanistan.
To think laying down our arms and retreating is an option is to surrender.
Surrender to hate based on middle ages myths.
An idea that one belief is the only one the world needs, not all who follow that faith believe this but far too many do.
Why can some not here in this thread talk of the crimes of the Taliban?
The silence is the answer.
NEVER forget lies and miss truths are as much a weapon for some as an ak47.