PrintSeptember 26, 2005
On Second Thought, It Is Vietnam
Comparisons of the Iraq war to Vietnam have always rung hollow—except to those who desperately wish them to be true. Aging activists remember the glory days when, abetted by sensational media coverage, they forced an abandonment of U.S. commitment in that earlier war. They sense that, with the right combination of events and demagoguery, they can accomplish the same thing now.
But there are no similarities, beyond the fact that both represent use of American military power in service of strategic goals. For the anti—war community, that is the unforgivable sin. The details are—just details.
Imagine that Ho Chi Minh, rather than being a nationalist ideologue backed by two communist superpowers, had been a regional thug with a mad desire for revenge—and sarin gas at his disposal. Imagine that U.S. forces, instead of plodding aimlessly for 10 years, had marched into Hanoi in the early months of 1965, deposed Ho, united north and south under a...(Read Full Article)
