We Can't Escape The Specter Of Vietnam
By Carol Devine-Molin
August 27, 2007
Page 2 of 2
We're making headway, but we need to keep at it. This is no time to quit. Constant pressure by the Democrats to "pull out now" in order to appease their hard-Left base is counterproductive to our national goals and would, in fact, further endanger the Iraqi people.
As to Vietnam, the president explained: "Whatever your position is on that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like "boat people," "re-education camps," and "killing fields."
President Bush also cited the words of Osama bin Laden and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, both of whom commented upon America's Vietnam experience in past interviews. The al-Qaeda leaders observed a demoralized America that ultimately left the Vietnam region in chaos and the people vulnerable. Bush quoted al-Zawahiri who discussed "the aftermath of the collapse of the American power in Vietnam and how they (the Americans) ran and left their agents." Because of America's final "retreat and defeat" strategy in Vietnam, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri were clearly emboldened to attack and challenge America on 9/11.
Bush further extrapolated: "If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits. As we saw on September the 11th, a terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world can bring death and destruction to the streets of our own cities. Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home. And that is why, for the security of the United States of America, we must defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America."
From the get-go, the Bush administration has possessed a strategy of "bringing the war to the enemy", so that we don't have to fight terrorists on American soil. Iraq is al-Qaeda's central front, a magnet that beckons these terrorists to take up arms against Americans and an emerging Iraqi democracy, and that's precisely where we need to be engaging these terrorist vermin -- in Iraq. The idea is to keep the pressure on al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq and anywhere else they can be found, thus depriving them of the opportunity to regroup and attack us aggressively in America.
In other words, we want to keep al-Qaeda under siege, making it difficult for them to project power. Our military presence in Iraq certainly helps the Iraqis, and we're glad to be of assistance, but we're primarily there in our own self-interests. Essentially, we've established a beachhead from which to operate in the Middle East, and it's doubtful that we'll be completely exiting Iraq anytime soon, particularly since this global war against radical Islam will probably last for decades.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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