NYgs23
01-05-2008, 05:20 AM
Remember the 100 Years War? It was actually 114 years (or something like that) that England spend trying to basically conquer much of France, due to Angevin claims based on ancestors like William the Conqueror and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Problem was, after all that time fighting and WINNING MANY IMPORTANT BATTLES AND HAVING THE UPPER HAND, a teenaged girl named Joan of Arc came along and roused the demoralized French to kick to Englishmen's asses. Within a generation the English lost the War they'd been fighting for more than 100 years.
My opinion: The English could have never won the 100 Years War. They weren't just trying to take out an enemy threat, but trying to conquer a foreign land. The only way you can succesfully do that is if you totally annex and colonize them and assimilate them into your culture (and even that usually doesn't work--the Irish and Indians eventually threw off the chains of Britain, the New World colonies fought for their independence from the European kingdoms, etc.) The English pounded away for a 114 years on French soil and lost.
Does John McVain want us to bog ourselves down in Iraq--wasteless untold amounts of blood and treasure, weakening our economy, weakening our defense--just so an Iraqi Joan of Arc can come along in 2121?
All for Huckster's "honor" I suppose...
My opinion: The English could have never won the 100 Years War. They weren't just trying to take out an enemy threat, but trying to conquer a foreign land. The only way you can succesfully do that is if you totally annex and colonize them and assimilate them into your culture (and even that usually doesn't work--the Irish and Indians eventually threw off the chains of Britain, the New World colonies fought for their independence from the European kingdoms, etc.) The English pounded away for a 114 years on French soil and lost.
Does John McVain want us to bog ourselves down in Iraq--wasteless untold amounts of blood and treasure, weakening our economy, weakening our defense--just so an Iraqi Joan of Arc can come along in 2121?
All for Huckster's "honor" I suppose...