And I am beginning to hear more of this sort of thing:
Foxfyre wrote:
Quote:We failed in Vietnam because our military was not allowed to win it, and there were too many saying it couldn't be done or should not be done.
Now we have a chance to do a great thing in the Middle East and we have high skilled and trained men and women eager to do it and a constituency in Iraq providing a forum and a willingness to let us. All it will take to accomplish it is for Americans to be believers and demand an honorable victory. If too many Americans insist it can't be done or shouldn't be done, however, we will lose. And we and the world will be much the poorer for it.
Here it comes, the linking of the US's defeat in Viet Nam to this present "chance to do a great thing in the Middle East". All the right wing elements are there. The military wasn't "allowed to win it.", we have the all-volunteer Army on the ground -no lackabout draftees to impede things, and ''all it will take to accomplish it is for Americans to be believers and demand an honorable victory."
That's right. That's all it takes. Really. Just believe.
And there is that really nice edge of shame in there - we must not lose this one like we did in Viet Nam- we will be thus be utterly shamed as a nation. These two elements, belief and shame, are cornerstones of the present GOP philosophy. Believe in what they are doing because, and for no other reason, they believe in it. And shame on anyone else for uttering a discouraging word. And if shame doesn't work, they will shout you down or out your wife.
The Republicans of today see Viet Nam as a Democratic defeat because they see everything politically, but they have a problem. They are completely in charge of this enterprise and they are mucking it up badly. In other words, they have no one to blame but themselves. Ah, but wait!
They see someone they
can blame.
They can't do it alone, they must have the American people in lockstep, er, believing in what they want to accomplish here or, horrors, there will be a (Republican) defeat in War.
In the back rooms the history re-writers are already penning: If the American people, (those bastards) had just believed more, defeat could have been avoided. If we had just waited for, held on, just a little longer....
(Yeah, I know. Maybe we should have waited for the inspectors to finish their work, but that is water under the bridge now.)
Should make for very interesting Thanksgiving conversation.
Joe(unless they turn up the sound on the ballgame...)Nation