Iraq = Vietnam

It has been 2.5 years since the end of the 'official' Iraq war. Tonight Mr Bush Jr went on TV to give a rah rah speech to the American public about how noble our cause is and how we must persevere and win the war against the 'terrorists'. President Bush is learning how fickle the American public is. Less than a year ago he narrowly won re-election (a 51% majority vs 48% for Kerry), and now the public grows weary of a war that kills on average 700 American soldiers each year. Not much compared to Vietnam but enough for Bush to see his slim 51% majority hold turn into a minority. Remember Vietnam?

1. We were there to spread Democracy against the evil communists that were going to take over the world (the domino theory).
2. We would leave once South Vietnam could take over the war and defend itself (remember Vietnamization?)

Lets compare to Iraq:

1. We are there to spread democracy to the Middle East, which will cause the demise of the 'evildoing terrorists'.
2. And now for the piece Mr Bush Jr introduced tonight in his speech - we will stay there until Iraq can defend itself against the evil insurgents who hate freedom loving people - so we are traiining Iraq to take over the fight so we can leave (will this be called Iraqization?)

If there is one lesson Vietnam taught us, it is that whether Iraq accepts democracy or not is not up to us. It will be up to the people of Iraq. They either want it and are willing to die for it or not.

We lost over 50,000 men in Vietnam and once most troops were withdrawn, it only took a couple of months for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong (South Vietnamese fighting against the Americans) to easily win the war. Why? Because the people of South Vietnam were not willing to fight for their democracy. It may hurt but that is the truth. Once we left the South practically let North Vietnam walk in and take over without a fight. Democracy and freedom just were not that important to them. All our boys who died over there died in vain. They died for nothing. What makes that so painful is that our government had sold us on the notion that we were being appreciated by the South Vietnamese and they wanted us there to defend their freedom, only to have it turn out to be a lie.

Now Mr Bush wants us to believe that the Iraqi people want freedom and democracy, and that once they can defend themselves we will leave. Sorry but I've heard that one before and I'm not going to believe it until I see it. Two and a half years have gone by and the Iraqis don't seem to be rushing to enlist in the fight for democracy in their country. And if they are not willing to die for it, my children sure as hell aren't.

So we better start seeing the 'democracy loving ' Iraqis start kicking some 'insurgent' ass pretty soon because otherwise their fate will be the same as Vietnam's. And Bush will forever be known as the moron who led us there. The war will become unpopular - we will leave - the insurgents will win - and then 30 years later they become our friends anyway when they see the light, the way the Vietnamese finally did - at their own pace - not ours.