Would Defeat in Iraq Be So Bad?

Times.com ^ | 10/15/06 | Leslie Gelb

[World_Events]

To me, the relentless mud slide of insurgency and civil war in Iraq is leading to unacceptable strategic disaster for the U.S. There appear to be no viable paths to follow in order to avoid it. Neither "staying the course"--whatever that Bush strategy now means--nor the Democrats' idea of exiting by timetables offers a semblance of success. Both approaches produce only nightmares: general chaos; Iraq's center taken over by terrorists emboldened by victory over America, their pockets bulging with Iraqi oil money; southern Iraq controlled by pro-Iranians or Iran itself; and Iraq's neighbors picking at the nation's carcass until regional war erupts and prompts oil prices to hit $150 a barrel.

But while those fears have a real hold on me, I can't help transporting myself back more than 30 years to that day in Vietnam when I felt certain the dominoes would fall throughout Asia and destroy America's strategic position there and elsewhere. I was wrong about those dominoes, as were almost all foreign-policy experts.

It was April 28, 1975. The last U.S. officials scrambled aboard helicopters, bound for home, heralding defeat as North Vietnamese troops tramped into the South Vietnamese capital. And it was the most ignominious kind of defeat, one that came after a decades-long war, after tens of thousands of Americans and Vietnamese had been killed, after our Presidents had pledged it would never come to that.

We expected China and the Soviet Union would be ascendant, that allies like Japan and South Korea would doubt our resolve and reposition themselves, and that North Vietnam would claim the rest of Indochina. Almost none of that happened.

[Hazcat]

Dear Leslie,

Would your losing your job be so bad?

[Khepera]

Wouldn't be so bad if we lost it somewhere off planet i guess.

[3AngelaD]

Dear Leslie: YOU are a loser, so losing seems OK to you. Not everyone shares your wussiness.

[kesg]

This is why sane people do not entrust Rats and other leftists with national security or foreign policy.

[MPJackal]

"Would Defeat in Iraq Be So Bad?"

Yes, it would. Iraq would become the rally cry for the mooslems. The Islamos would know we are P@ssies and come after us like never before. This is a war of civilizations and if we lose in Iraq, the EU and USA will be the next target.

[samtheman]

Another moron pretending to be thoughtful. A chimp in a three-piece suit.

[shankbear]

Sounds like.............cut-n-run.

[Perdogg]

The fight in Iraq is no longer about fighting the Salafists Jihadi movement, they are dying out. The battle for Iraq is now about the Shia Jihadi movement which has been at war with the US since 1979.

[Perdogg]

http://www.cfr.org/bios/3325/

[jpl]

But while those fears have a real hold on me, I can't help transporting myself back more than 30 years to that day in Vietnam when I felt certain the dominoes would fall throughout Asia and destroy America's strategic position there and elsewhere. I was wrong about those dominoes, as were almost all foreign-policy experts.

I suppose that technically this is true, but jeez, not so much as one word about Cambodia? It's pretty disgraceful to just pretend that that little incident never really happened.

[LibLieSlayer]

To gelb the "gobbler",

WOULD A ***DAMN A-BOMB BLOWING YOUR SORRY ASS UP, ALONG WITH THOSE OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND AN AMERICAN CITY, BE SO BAD?... YOU leftist, POS, dumb-a$$ed, hildebeast butt kissing, bent-one fondling, puke-a$$ed dim!

LLS

[OB1kNOb]

Leslie, you ignorant slut:

[2ndDivisionVet]

This is a trial balloon for the defeatocrats, IMHO. Does anyone else remember seeing a San Francisco city councilman on Hannity & Colmes call for the abolition of the US military? That is the true face of the defeatocrats, but they know it doesn't sell in middle America.

[RobbyS]

Heck, has John Kerry even been asked the question: How come you were so wrong about how the Communists treated the people of South Vietnam after they took over? Liberals ignore the consequences of their actions. I guess their attitude is that the "gooks" had it coming?

[texan75010]

and then there was the democrat that tried to swim the Mississippi....she swam all the way across, got 4 feet from shore and decided it was too tough....so she swam back.

[wmfights]

What happened to our enemies in WWII after we won?

They became strong allies. It just took time. Japan was very similar in that they were xenophobic, inclined to aggression and treated prisoners with barbarity. Today they are a great trding partner and pose no threat to world peace. The transition for Japan took 30+ years, why is Irag supposed to be done before the shooting stops?

[JasonC]

Right, I mean only a couple of million innocent people died, and only couple million more fled into exile in rickety boats, and only a few score million were ground under a commie boot for a few decades. But most importantly, Dems won the White House! So it worked, see.

[jazusamo]

Would Defeat in Iraq Be So Bad?

After Vietnam, the dominoes did not fall. What that tells us about this war

No dominoes fell after Vietnam but several million Southeast Asians fell when they were murdered by communists.

That's a fact that Gelb and the looney left don't want to talk about.

[EyeGuy]

Dear Leslie:

The United States military never loses. Never.

Wimp politicians and an anti-American media may force us into a stalemate, but the US armed forces do not lose. You can hear it in the habitual vocabulary of our officers.

Once again, the US military does NOT lose.

Educationally yours,

EyeGuy