[LZ_Bayonet]

Your statement may have some facts right, and some comments are worthy of contribution to a serious argument. But you made this statement: "The Iraq war, like the VN war, ..., is totally inconsequential if won or lost (whatever losing means)." You also wrote: "During the Vietnam War Lyndon Johnson told us we have to fight them there or in Hawaii and the West Coast. The absurdity of that was almost comical considering a small country with a 90% peasant population, no industrial base and 10,000 miles from our shores as being a danger to the US.". Beyond the fact that Johnson was referring to Communism in general (I lived during the Vietnam War too), your analysis resulted in labeling Johnson's comment as "absurd", yet the statement:"The Iraq war, like the VN war, ..., is totally inconsequential if won or lost." is so absurd as to test the limits of the meaning of the word.