Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Why? Is The Question

Off and on for a couple of weeks now I have looking at previously copied from the PB channel video programs on the Revolutionary War. I think there were 4 or 5 to watch.

At the beginning of each one a statement was made that all dialog was from somebody’s diary or records.

The one I saw today British General Charles Cornwallis and his troops were more or less pinned in Yorktown, Virginia. They could not leave from land or sea. That is where they surrendered.

General Cornwallis said, “Do we have a plan? If not, why are we here?”

Is there a lesson to learn from that statement?

7 comments:

Pappy said...

Eddie, "Why?" is a fair question, if the people you're asking actually know some history. Forget the Revolution, these guys don't even know about a war fought 35-40 years ago in their own lifetimes.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, nice guantlet that you have thrown down with this!

Anonymous said...

Well, it seems to me this is a pretty good historical analysis, right down to the colonization part. I don't think we are ever going to know the real reasons behind why we invaded Iraq....ever.

Eddie said...

Pappy,
You are right... this type of person can not learn from previous mistakes, even with people trying to tell him how things went.
Suzanne,
Guantlet is my new-word-for-the-day. I remember that word was the name of a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry kind of movie. The word is not in Webster Collegiate Dictionary, but it is an old book - I bet it doesn't have shit in it either, but on-line Wikipedia gave me a whole bunch of definitions

Eddie said...

Steve,
I don't know why we fought in Vietnam. However, I think WWII was a no-brainer.

Anonymous said...

I always heard Vietnam was about stopping the commies from spreading out into SE Asia.

I see far more dark and sinister things behind Iraq. Thats what happens when the people arent told anything and we have to figure it out for ourselves.

Eddie said...

steve,
I think you are right. Dark forces seem to be at work lining up our involvement there.