Originally Posted by $5 submissions

Dien Bien Phu was where the French got beaten by the Vietminh. Interesting how far back US involvement was in Vietnam. Hopefully, there were some lessons learned that can be applied to Iraq today. I don't know... lessons like:

Don't back regimes that don't have majority support
Disentangle religious/ethnic divisions before commiting yourself to a faction
It's easier to beat an enemy than to hang on to his territory (I think Machiavelli covered this in "The Prince")