I thought this opinion in CNN today was noteworthy in comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam. From Andrew West:
After the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, U.S. Col. Harry Summers remarked to his North Vietnamese counterpart, "You know you never defeated us on the battlefield." After a moment, the North Vietnamese officer replied: "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant."
Although that blunt exchange took place nearly 35 years ago, it's still worthy of close consideration in light of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Americans did win their battles in Vietnam, but, as the outcome of the war made clear, raw battlefield prowess did not lead to victory. Why? Because the war there was not for Americans to win or lose. It was a Vietnamese war.
Looking to capture and bring to justice those who masterminded the attacks of 2001 is excellent. Going to war within a country to root out terrorism, generally? Not our war.
Where are the Democrats who were opposed to the wars when GW Bush was president? I can only conclude by their general silence that their opposition was not principled, but raw political opportunism.
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"I can only conclude by their general silence that their opposition was not principled, but raw political opportunism." - Just as I predicted. At least some of my democratic friends bend over backwards to justify the continuation of the illegal, stupid war in Afghanistan and state that we need to stay there to fix what Bush started - Really by continuing to kill Afghans and bomb villages in multiple countries? As I told my Republican friends, the Democrats don't hate war; they just want to be the ones deciding where we drop our bombs. All the supposed differences between them is mainly political theatre for the masses. Both parties want Empire; they just follow slightly different paths to subjugate U.S. citizens and foreign populations.
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