The Lessons of Vietnam, Republican style.

[KlatooBNikto]

While we, the Democrats, say that Vietnam has taught us valuable lessons not to embark on imperialist adventures in Asia that become too costly in blood and gold,the Republicans have drawn entirely different lessons. These are:

1. Dominate the media so that the American people are not even aware of what is happening in the theater of war. This is why there are no body counts, no pictures of either civilian casualties or the bodies of soldiers flown back home. They are an inconvenient reminder that there is a war on.

2. Couch the war in terms of an external, ever present threat and intimidate any one who questions the basic premise of the war as being unpatriotic or lacking in religious convictions.

3. Hide the true cost of the war and again intimidate any one in Congress who dares to seek accountability.

4. Use the war as a way to monopolize power so that all opposition can be nullified.

5. Use demonstration elections, as in Iraq,or obfuscation or outright lies to advance the agenda of imperialism with like minded imperialists like Tony Blair and John Howard .

In all cases make the American people the last ones to know the truth because the battle is waged in America just as much as it was in the jungles of Vietnam or is now being waged on the sands of Iraq.

[hlthe2b]

1. Silly me...

I was hopefully scrolling down to see what newspaper had printed this wonderful insightful editorial. Not to diminish your own accolades, but this ought to be the kind of thing we see in leading newspapers. Well, I'll nominate it for the greatest and hope that some lurkers see it nonetheless.

Very good points.

[acmavm]

2. You need to make a poster out of this for the upcoming demonstrations

on the 19th.

[immoderate]

3. I mostly hear that it was our failure to use nuclear weapons

that caused our downfall in Vietnam. This is, of course, insane.

BTW I've even had that argument with people who were registered here on DU, with high post counts. They are no longer here though.

--IMM

[adwon]

4. Actually

The standard GOP line is to defer to the military when it comes to counterinsurgency. As counterinsurgency doctrine is disproportionately influenced by the Army, we get soldiers running around helter skelter chasing after 'guerillas.' The simple fact that chasing guerillas failed in Vietnam should have been enough to prevent it from happening again.

Solution? Ask the Army, and the GOP, just how chasing guerillas is supposed to pacify Iraq when American soldiers are cordoned off from the general population rather than interacting on a one to one basis?

This isn't a hearts and mind argument, it's just an observation that Iraqis might, MIGHT, be more willing to work with Americans if the troops in Iraq weren't isolated like some colonial garrison.