Hello? … Either I 've been sleeping for thirty years or there is indeed a nasty war going on today and that Vietnam was finally over. Nevertheless, the war in Iraq does tie in with the war that ended thirty years ago. No, it has no connection with Kerry’s war record or anti-war efforts afterwards; nor, has it anything to do with Bush’ s national guard service. Yet it is certainly connected with the political aspect of the war in Vietnam: come hell or high water, President Johnson was going to find a way to justify escalating the war in order to defend against the domino theory that if South Korea goes communist, then all of Asia is at stake, and which was — regardless of the corrupt President Syngman Rhee — tantamount to the justification of the Korean War. At that time, however, it was not merely remotely excusable since the cold war was at its highest and hysteria reigned at home.
Because of the September 11 invasive tragedy, our nation was justifiably distraught that soon turned to intense patriotism by the war in Afghanistan. This led to political opportunism to stay the course of a wartime fever-pitch, not against terrorism but against the UN and Saddam. To enhance this fever misinformation that tied Saddam to terrorism ran rampant to draw the nation into a war with Iraq. Rather than intensifying a true defense at home, the administration and indeed a gullible congress to continue the war on terrorism abroad. Paradoxically, in face of Iraq’s being a mammoth threat, Rumsfeld treated the war as a piece of cake and overruled caution from the Pentagon that were still ingrained with the dictum of its former Chief of Staff, Colin Powell, that “overwhelming force” is the cardinal rule for war, and different from Afghanistan since the Northern Alliance there did most of the grunt fighting.
In its hysteria to revive the domino theory in reverse — democratizing the Middle East by forcible example — the administration is now in a Vietnam-like morass at the expense of Iraqis, US troops, and the viable defense of America.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: September 15, 2004.
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