Talk:Edward Lansdale

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 Definition A U.S. Air Force general on assignment to the CIA, key counterinsurgency advisor to Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, involved in French Indochina and South Vietnam 1954-1960, although lost influence in U.S. policymaking through bureaucratic infighting [d] [e]
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 Workgroup categories Military, Politics and History [Categories OK]
 Subgroup categories:  Vietnam wars and Intelligence
 Talk Archive none  English language variant American English

Jean Paul von Vann

I dunno who he is, and if *I* don't, hehe, I doubt if many other CZ readers would either. I suggest that you rephrase the lede to say, "The celebrated stripteaser and child actor John Paul Vanne, once said etc...." Hayford Peirce 22:29, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Point taken and expanded, but there is always the Vann bluelink -- not that I have, by any means, finished the Vann article. One eats an elephant one bite at a time, and Vietnam has elephants (well, Thailand does, anyway, and what's a border to an elephant?) "The celebrated military leader who didn't get promoted due to his habit of diddling teenagers, aside from being a brilliant rebel..."
  • Yeah, but bluelinks should at least lead from a word or name that has already been identified for the reader, ie, you really can't assume in *any* article these days that anyone under 50 knows who the hell U.S. Grant is -- he should always be briefly identified one way or another as a general, a president, a drunk, or even as a great autobiographer....
  • And if Vann whosis was the only military man in Indochina who was habitually diddling teenagers, I will contribute a great gross of condoms to the Cochin Chinese Chapter of Planned Parenthood....Hayford Peirce 23:04, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
One of the asides is that while there were very good conventional military people, there were also the shadow warriors like Lansdale and Conein, and the military eccentrics like Vann and Hackworth. How to catch the color?
True. Hayford Peirce 23:04, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
"Eccentric" isn't quite the word I want, but I want to capture the flavor of complex characters, sometimes with flaws worthy of Greek tragedy. British officers of this sort included T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), Orde Wingate, and Richard Meinertzhagen. Earlier Americans with this mad streak included Earl Ellis, maybe U.S. Grant, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.Howard C. Berkowitz 22:44, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
Not to mention Georgie Patton.... Hayford Peirce 23:04, 28 November 2008 (UTC)