There's Something Happening Here
Here we go again. Only now it's the "Iraqification" rather than the "Vietnamization" of a quagmire war in another distant and increasingly hostile land.
Washington's puppets are once again said to be on the verge of getting their act together, and the American people are daily assured that we are about to turn the corner. Soon we will be able to give Iraq back to the Iraqis, and some distant day the United States will get out. In the meantime, U.S. troops must continue in a "support role" while being maimed and killed with increasing frequency.
Sorry to appear so jaded, but it has been nearly 40 years since I was briefed in Saigon by U.S. officials about the great progress being made in turning the affairs of South Vietnam over to Washington's handpicked leaders of that country. I was also told with great emotional forcefulness that it would be irresponsible to just leave, given the dire consequences for world freedom.
Iraq is not Vietnam, and this is not 1964. But there are enough pillars for this analogy that we should remember some of the lessons of our last attempt to remake a nation in our image.
First, we never managed to build "our" stable Vietnam government; one gang of incompetents and thieves simply replaced another, until -- 10 years and millions of deaths later -- we finally left, under the most ignominious circumstances.
Second, after Saigon fell, the anticipated security disaster for the United States and the region didn't happen. To the contrary, communist Vietnam and communist China soon went to war with each other, leaving the U.S. in a far stronger position to exert its influence on both of those nations and the rest of Asia.
Third, and perhaps most important, in Vietnam then and Iraq now, guerrilla tactics by "the locals" and overwhelming American firepower killed or maimed a large number of innocent people on all sides. All in a war without a clear purpose and sold to the American people by U.S. political leaders willing to lie to them.
For me, there are two particularly symbolic victims, one from each war. They stand out for their parallel experiences, marked by tragedy and bravery before and after their experiences in battle. Ron Kovic and Jessica Lynch were both working-class kids vulnerable to the siren song of jingoism, and both suffered serious injuries that will keep them in considerable pain throughout their lives -- long after the movies made about them and the reasons for the wars they fought in have been mostly forgotten.
