Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam

Michael at Boots in Baghdad has an excellent article posted about being in Iraq is really all about and what leaving early will result in. He writes: “This is the best article I have read on Iraq since I returned home. The author's objective writing is based on a perfect balance of intelligence and experience. In my opinion, his accuracy is absolute.It is written by Melvin Laird, former Defense Secretary to Nixon. It is posted in its entirety below or it can be found at Foreign Affairs.

Laird writes, “It is time for a reasonable look at both Vietnam and Iraq -- and at what the former can teach us about the latter. My perspective comes from military service in the Pacific in World War II (I still carry shrapnel in my body from a kamikaze attack on my destroyer, the U.S.S. Maddox), nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and four years as secretary of defense to Nixon.Today, we deserve a view of history that is based on facts rather than emotional distortions and the party line of tired politicians who play on emotions. Mine is not a rosy view of the Vietnam War. I didn't miss the fact that it was an ugly, mismanaged, tragic episode in U.S. history, with devastating loss of life for all sides. But there are those in our nation who would prefer to pick at that scab rather than let it heal. They wait for opportunities to trot out the Vietnam demons whenever another armed intervention is threatened. For them, Vietnam is an insurance policy that pretends to guarantee peace at home as long as we never again venture abroad. Certain misconceptions about that conflict, therefore, need to be exposed and abandoned in order to restore confidence in the United States' nation-building ability.”

Stop over and read the whole article, you will learn a lot, I know…I sure did.