Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/16

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Single Malt and Leica and Very OT
From: Marc James Small <msmall@infionline.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 20:22:29 -0400
References: <3.0.2.32.20030716145402.01a95d50@pop.infionline.net>

At 05:35 PM 7/16/03 -0600, Greg J. Lorenzo wrote:
>"arguably the most brilliant guerilla leader of the 20th 
>century"?? Now that's funny, I don't think anyone who reads world 
>history could argue that  and keep a straight face!
>
>Mao Tse-Tung was unquestionably, by any measure, the most brilliant and 
>successful guerilla leader of the last century. He defeated a US backed 
>army of 4 million men and ruled a country of one billion people until 
>his death. Which just happens to be the largest country by population 
>and third largest country by size on the planet.
>
>Of course Nguyen Tat Thanh (aka Ho Chi Minh) was no slouch either, he 
>defeats another US backed army (the French) in 1954, becomes President 
>of North Vietnam and puts in motion in 1959 an ultimately successful 
>second war against both (the US backed) South Vietnamese and large scale 
>direct US involvement.
>
>Then there's Lenin, Tito, Castro, Guevara.....

Lenin was no guerilla leader.  Why don't YOU read some history?  He wasn't
even a decent military commander;  Trotsky was the commander of the Red
Army who won the Russian Civil War.

The others fought against divided and inconclusive governments which were
more concerned with running away with their accumulated loot than in
fighting.  Collins was up against a British polity which felt affronted
that the Irish would ever argue about the benefits of English rule and
accepted this as a moral reality -- and, to be fair, Ireland from 1801
until 1922 was benignly ruled with the tacit acceptance of most of the
populace.  Collins managed to wage war on the English and their lackies, to
obtain the hearts and minds of his countryman, and all of this without
resorting to the sort of force against those striving to remain neutral as
displayed so viciously by the likes of Mao, Ho, and Guevara.  

All modern concepts of guerilla warfare flow from the Big Man, from
organization of cells (studied and adopted by the Soviets in their
insurgency school attended later by Ho and Mao) to penetration of the
existing government and the logistics of rebellion.

Marc



msmall@infionline.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

Replies: Reply from "Greg J. Lorenzo" <gregj.lorenzo@shaw.ca> (Re: [Leica] Re: Single Malt and Leica and Very OT)
Reply from Marc James Small <msmall@infionline.net> (Re: [Leica] Re: Single Malt and Leica and Very OT)
In reply to: Message from Marc James Small <msmall@infionline.net> (Re: [Leica] Re: Single Malt and Leica)