Nixon adviser: Iraq is repeat of mistakes made in Vietnam (Alexander Haigh questions Iraq war)

Yep, yep, posting from there, gives one an insight into the discussion of Similarities between vietnam war and Irag.. I do not take issue with her knowning Iraq I take issue with her lack of insight into the direction this is going..A weak president due to constant MSM and dems attacks, 2 sanctuary states to support the insurgents (iran and syria= think laos and N viet nam)..No clear exit or clear victory articulated, Military Brass acting timid
with confronting the sanctuary states- think westmoreland,
pal I have seen this all before and for her to state there is no similarities is due just to lack of experience and insight ..when I was in country in nam 69-71 I had no idea how bad the support for the troops and the war had become when I returned in 71 it was a shock..dang we even have Jane Fonda and J Kerry kicking it up with Soros..If you disagree let me know. Allegra did not respond to one example I posted on the topic.

61 posted on 03/12/2006 1:14:04 PM PST by ConsentofGoverned (if a sucker is born every minute, what are the voters?)

To: Hannah Senesh

"Every asset of the nation must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don't do it," Alexander Haig said.

I am no Al Haig fan, but if Syria and Iran are sticking there noses under the Iraqi tent, he may have a point.

62 posted on 03/12/2006 1:14:51 PM PST by operation clinton cleanup

Like the topic says ..mistakes of VietNam..we are getting weaker due to public opinion they are getting stronger with the support of the leftist and traitorous MSM.
Our military said never again..but looks like they will not back it up..how syria and iran have gotten this far is more than enough to make the point.

63 posted on 03/12/2006 1:20:54 PM PST by ConsentofGoverned (if a sucker is born every minute, what are the voters?)

Just like we left Japan and Germany right after we knocked them on their kiesters. Like that?

Germany was divided up IIRC. We stayed there with bases but as a whole and this applies to Japan as well we were not dealing with differing tribal sects who did not honor terms of surrender. Korea and Nam were tribal wars nation against nation just as Iraq is now. There is no way to win except to have a military objective such as removal of leadership {killing them} and let it go from there. The United States is not going to reverse 3000 plus years of hate these people have for each other. Many fail to understand Arabs not only hate Jews but hate other Arabs as well. That makes obtaining peace a virtual impossibility. The only interest we should have in Iraq now should be a GITMO type of base of operations for our own national interest.

Had we fought WW2 and prior wars the way we do now under the restrictions & rules we do now we would be under Imperial or Nazi rule today. I agree with what one poster said. Our War College and Military Academies are being ran by followers of Herbert Marcuse and others like him. You can not fight Kinder & Gentler wars and expect good results.

The only other solution for Iraq possibly would be a dictator of the Tito calliber who is benign to the rest of the world and rules with an iron fist.

64 posted on 03/12/2006 1:28:14 PM PST by cva66snipe (If it was wrong for Clinton why do some support it for Bush? Party over nation destroys the nation.)

To: Allegra; DMZFrank; All

Allegra, please read Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam and DMZfrank's comment# 16 on that thread when you have the chance. May God bless all of you! Thank you for your service.

65 posted on 03/12/2006 3:03:29 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)

To: Hannah Senesh

66 posted on 03/12/2006 3:12:58 PM PST by Skel (what?)

To: Sir Francis Dashwood

If we are going to fight a war, then FIGHT THE DAMN WAR! I think one of the fundamental mistakes that was made going in was that once Saddam was gone, Iraq was simply going to sprout Jeffersonian Democracy.

67 posted on 03/13/2006 4:26:55 AM PST by nonliberal (Graduate: Curtis E. LeMay School of International Relations)

To: ConsentofGoverned

One more major difference is that if we walk away from or lose this war on terror or even this Iraq campaign portion, the enemy will follow us home this time.

68 posted on 03/13/2006 5:11:26 AM PST by F.J. Mitchell (Muslims give us a choice-their way or the dieway.)

To: F.J. Mitchell

Only way to win is to deny them the money to make modern WMD's ..that means take away the oil dollars from their control, who is willing to do this? can it even be done?
IMO the key to this war is limiting access to tech and we already have Pakistan with the bomb and radicals ready to give it to the terrorists..Iran looks like they do not think we can do anything to stop them on that road..who here is 100% we will do anything to them ..if not we will be hit here, win or lose in Iraq.

69 posted on 03/13/2006 5:18:54 AM PST by ConsentofGoverned (if a sucker is born every minute, what are the voters?)

If we are going to fight a war, then FIGHT THE DAMN WAR!

I would say fight to win the war and crush anyone (including their apologists and our detractors) that get in the way.

Destroying Mecca would not end the war, but it would be the first step toward winning it...

70 posted on 03/13/2006 5:24:08 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (LET'S ROLL!)

To: F.J. Mitchell

One more major difference is that if we walk away from or lose this war on terror or even this Iraq campaign portion, the enemy will follow us home this time.

They did just that to the Europeans and some of them are here already.

71 posted on 03/13/2006 5:52:05 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (LET'S ROLL!)

To: Sir Francis Dashwood

True and those already here are more dangerous than a undetected malignant cancer.

72 posted on 03/13/2006 5:59:28 AM PST by F.J. Mitchell (Muslims give us a choice-their way or the dieway.)

To: F.J. Mitchell

True and those already here are more dangerous than a undetected malignant cancer.

I see them more like the AIDS virus where it is the complications from other illnesses that kills the patient (i.e., Hollywood, sex perverts, dope, superflous entertainments and distractions).

People are so oblivious in their little text message, video game world, inane lifestyles and insipid idleness...

73 posted on 03/13/2006 6:24:22 AM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (LET'S ROLL!)

An adviser to former President Richard Nixon said military leaders in Iraq are repeating a mistake made in Vietnam by not applying the full force of the military to win the war.

"Every asset of the nation must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don't do it," Alexander Haig said.

Actually a good point. Not sure how anybody can argue with it. The only quesiotn is are we not fighting as hard as we could in Iraq? I'm always dubious about the military trying to "win the hearts and minds" of the population. This always seems to mean they fight softly.

74 posted on 03/13/2006 6:31:51 AM PST by Taliesan (What you allow into the data set is the whole game.)

To: Sir Francis Dashwood

AIDS is a perfect comparison. That disease just laid dormant among those whose life style was friendly to it's existance and fertilizer for it's growth and expansion. They didn't even know they had it until it had them.

75 posted on 03/13/2006 6:34:03 AM PST by F.J. Mitchell (Muslims give us a choice-their way or the dieway.)

The only question is are we not fighting as hard as we could in Iraq? I'm always dubious about the military trying to "win the hearts and minds" of the population. This always seems to mean they fight softly.

I can answer your question in four words: "No we are not" (fighting as hard as we could), and it has nothing to do with the desire to win, it has nothing to do with the ability of our armed forces, it has everything to do with the fact that we want to leave Iraq a better place than it was when we found it, and that means going the extra mile NOT to literally steamroller the country from border to border. There were advocates of wiping Fallujah (as one example) from the face of the Earth, and while that would have generated a relatively quick victory for that battle, it would likely have turned the general population against us. The fact is, we already HAVE the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people with us, because they realize that America finally made good on our promise to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and his thugs, and to deliver them out of tyranny.

Now if it had been (hypothetically) a Soviet "liberation" of Iraq, you might well have had fewer incidents of insurgents and terrorists blowing people and places to smithereens, but you would also have had the traditional Soviet brutality and their tendency to smash anything that looks cross-eyed at them. Think Hungary, 1956, or perhaps Czechoslovakia 1968. Anyone who opposed the Soviets was shot, regardless of the circumstances.

I don't think that is what we want to be known for in Iraq.

Now being an armchair general like everyone else around here, I can offer some criticisms too, for example: we should have declared to Syria that the border between Syria and Iraq was closed, and ANYthing crossing the border from Syria would be subject to having the living daylights bombed out of it. Ditto for the common border with Iran. Just as there was (eventually) no sanctuary for the Commies in Cambodia, so too should there be no sanctuary for terrorists and insurgents in either Syria or Iran. And I think that when terrorists and insurgents are captured, once their identity and activities are confirmed, they should be tried, convicted and sent to the hangman's noose, always on a Friday, not to be cut down until Sunday night. And televise it. Make an example of them. They are the criminal element in Iraq, and that sort of approach will resonate favorably with the general population.

I figure that I have spent about as much time in Iraq as Alexander Haig has recently, so I'm equally qualified to issue an opinion about the situation there.

76 posted on 03/13/2006 6:48:10 AM PST by mkjessup (The Shah doesn't look so bad now, eh? But nooo, Jimmah said the Ayatollah was a 'godly' man.)

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