Originally posted by telerion
Coming from the lady who continued to insist that Canada put Canadian troops on the ground in Vietnam even after the older interviewer (for a major Canadian broadcast) told her repeatedly that they did not?
Ann Coulter is about the worst conservative hack there is. Not because she isn't effective. She fires up the irrational base quite well. She is the worst because she makes conservatives look so damn stupid.
i can see how you would view that as a damning indictment ...
1. re the ann coulter canadians in vietnam controversy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Coulter#Canada_and_the_Vietnam_War
"Canada and the Vietnam War
In January 2005, Coulter gave an interview to CBC's The Fifth Estate (video clip of this part of the interview) in which she argued that Canada's non-participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq demonstrated that Canada's "loyal friendship" with the United States was weaker than in the past. She attempted to contrast the situation with the Vietnam War, stating:
"Canada used to be one of our most loyal friends and vice-versa. I mean Canada sent troops to Vietnam - was Vietnam less containable and more of a threat than Saddam Hussein?"
The interviewer Bob McKeown countered, "No, actually, Canada didn't send troops to Vietnam." Coulter and McKeown then politely contradicted each other repeatedly before Coulter finally concluded, "Well, I'll get back to you on that." [14]
Later in the show, McKeown stated that Coulter never did get back in touch with The Fifth Estate, and reiterated the filmmakers' position that Canada had not sent troops to Vietnam. [15]
In a subsequent interview on C-SPAN, Coulter admitted that she had erred, but also stated that thousands of Canadian-born Americans had gone to battle:
"Yes, 10,000 Canadian troops, at least. [...] The Canadian Government didn't send troops [ ... ] [ but ] they came and fought with the Americans. So I was wrong. It turns out there were 10,000 Americans who happened to be born in Canada." [16]
Later in the interview, when asked about the taping of the CBC show, she added:
"I talked to him [ interviewer Bob McKeown ] for three hours and the topic was not Canada's war history. It was an incidental point that he challenged me on and I didn't believe him because I had read about Canadian troops in Vietnam. I was right. People keep saying 'well, he didn't tell you that they - 10,000 troops - ran across to sign up with the Americans' because I don't think he knew." ibid "
2. canada did send troops to vietnam, as peacekeepers in 1973, and did support the U.S. with the vietnam war in various ways:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_and_the_Vietnam_War
"Canada's official diplomatic position was as a non-participant, but the country was not neutral in the conflict: it professed explicit support for the United States. Canada was also a major supplier of equipment and supplies to the American forces. Under UN rules Canada could not send these directly to South Vietnam, but they could sell them to the United States. Throughout the Vietnam War Canadian manufacturers profited greatly from the conflict. These included relatively benign items like boots and whiskey, but also napalm and Agent Orange the use of which was fiercely opposed by antiwar protesters at the time. Between 1965 and 1973 Canada sold some $2.5 billion worth of matériel to the American forces. Canada also allowed their NATO ally to use Canadian facilities and bases for training exercises and weapons testing.
In 1973, Canada also provided peacekeeping troops to Operation Gallant, the military operation associated with the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) Vietnam, along with Hungary, Indonesia, and Poland. Their role was to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam as per the Paris Peace Accords."
see also http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/1588/
Should Bush fire Karl Rove ?
14 Jul '05 23:25
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