McDermott: Is Iran Bush's Laos or Cambodia?

[Rose Siding]

snip>
The Vietnam War was going badly; so much so that an earlier President did not merely escalate the war; he expanded it into Laos and Cambodia. The secret bombing did not shorten the Vietnam War, or shorten the road to peace.
...
It is time to ask the question: Is Iran this President's Laos or Cambodia?
We cannot watch Iraq, consider Vietnam, and not worry that a President who refuses to learn from history will repeat its tragic mistakes.

Military action is not the answer in the Mideast. We need to dispatch an army of diplomats--armed not with bullets but with ideas, resolve, and a book of American history in every briefcase.

The way out of Iraq begins in Congress, because down the street at the White House, they are only talking about more ways in, and I fear, other places to go. Congress must pass a binding resolution and begin to end this war and bring our soldiers home.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-jim-mcdermott/remembering-the-lessons-o_b_40692.html

[acmavm]

1. I can see the analogy, and I think that it is. I've given up on

the hope that bush** could learn from history because I realize he doesn't give a damn about history. He thinks he's here to determine the fate of the Middle East and to rule over the United States and if no one likes it, tough shit. The really sad part of all this is he's not doing anything, he's just being manipulated and controlled by Cheney and the rest of his handlers.

What's been bothering me lately is where has Pat Roberts been? He was a big part of the lead-up to Shock and Awe. Him and his right-wing hateful religious crap. What's that freak show up to? Is he butting a bug in blivet's ear to bomb Iran?

[wakeme2008]

2. IMHO not good, Iran is more like attacking China during the VN war

Both Laos and Cambodia can not fight back like Iran can.

Just IMHO...

[bemildred]

3. Bush's Operation Barbarossa.

To paraphrase Dumbsfeldt: if you have an intractable small problem, make it bigger.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. I don't think so. Not unless you think of Vietnam as being a

stepping stone on the way to Cambodia.

Iran has always been the primary target. It's bigger, stronger, wealthier, has greater oil reserves, and is the prime focal point of opposition to US hegemony in the Middle East. Iraq was a tool, weakened by almost unending war and a decade of sanctions which seemed to be prime ground for use as a base for the war on Iran.

That's what Iraq is just a comma.

PNAC says as much.

[Vidar]

5. Diem Bien Phu.

[yurbud]

6. McDermott nails it again. kick this post up!