I was reading some of Bush's speech from the other day and it got me thinking about the comparison between Iraq and Vietnam: the comparison comes up often when I talk to my friends about the war. I think there are some good comparisons but most of them are off the mark.
The two best comparisons are: 1) the lack of support at home for the war itself. And 2) The lack of any significant metrics to help better understand if our interventions were (or are) effective. There is an excellent book called On Strategy by Harry G Summers Col, US Army (Retired) that specifically addresses both of these points. In the book Summers describes a conversation he had with a North Vietnamese counterpart after the war ended. Summers argued the US Army, on the field of combat never lost a battle. In every instance they were able to best the Viet Cong. To which the North Vietnamese Col responded, "That may be so, but it is completely irrelevant". Needless to say the Bush administration tossed this book in the trash when Rummy took over. Instead they opted to promote the opening of hospitals and school houses as signs of progress. Now we are talking about the relative calm in specific neighborhoods. All good things, but completely irrelevant. A far superior metric would evaluate the participation of Iraq's neighbors in the peace process and our ability to normalize relationships between the Sunni and Shi'ite.
As for comparing the war in Iraq with history's other calamities, I think the British in Northern Ireland is a much better comparison. The British, with a more advanced and well trained military invaded Ireland without significantly understanding the internal conflicts already at work there. Once the they succeeded in destabilizing the country, a civil war broke out. Think about how long the British were in Northern Ireland: it is a fraction of how long we will be in Iraq. Especially if we continue to maintain the bad faith arguments being put forward by President Bush. Were the British ever able to maintain stability in Ireland? What did Belfast look like when the Brits finally left? And when they finally did leave did the Irish (who live right next door) follow them home?
In 1999, when it was decided Bush would be the next president, I knew our country was in for a rough ride... I could never have imagined it would be this bad.
Damn, I wish the politicians would stop posting excuses on this site and instead take the time to read these diaries.