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Rush Limbaugh Live Thread Friday Oct 27, 2006
RushLimbaugh.com ^ | 10-27-2006 | Rush Limbaugh

Posted on 10/27/2006 8:56:11 AM PDT by MNJohnnie

http://beccycole.com/albums/videos/poster_girl.shtml

Great Video. The Aussies get it.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1726911/posts

Another Vietnam Asharq Al-Awsat ^ | 10/27/06 | Amir Taheri

Posted on 10/27/2006 8:21:42 AM CDT by Valin

Even before the US-led coalition had fired its first shot in the war that saved Iraq from Saddam Hussein there were some who predicted that the exercise would become “another Vietnam.”

The “another Vietnam” chorus included radical American intellectuals such as Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky and Sean Penn along with such figures on both the extreme right and the extreme left in Europe as Jean-Marie Le Pen, George Galloway and Harold Pinter. Since then, the prediction that Iraq was becoming or had already become “another Vietnam” has hit the headlines every three or four months.

The “another Vietnam” chorus is at its loudest whenever there is an upsurge in terrorist insurgency or sectarian violence in Iraq and at times when the US is holding an election.

It is, therefore, not surprising that October should have witnessed the return of the “another Vietnam” chorus at its loudest.

October has witnessed the worst violence in Iraq in 18 months. The joint efforts of the US forces and the new Iraqi army to end sectarian killings and terrorist attacks in Baghdad have failed. There has also been a series of defeatist declarations by a number of US and British politicians and military figures. Add to all that the fact that the US is headed for a crucial mid-term election early next month, and October becomes the ideal month for an upsurge in “another Vietnam” predictions.

The problem, however, is that because we are never told what the phrase “another Vietnam” actually means, the analogy may be misleading.

To start with the US and its allies in Vietnam were defending an un-elected and corrupt regime in Saigon against its enemies in both the south and North Vietnam. In Iraq, however, the US-led coalition is on the side of an elected government that represents virtually the entire Iraqi nation. There is no equivalent of the Hanoi regime in Iraq to offer the Iraqis an alternative vision and a flag under which to fight the government in Baghdad. The Al Qaeda figures in Iraq and the remnants of the Saddamite clan could hardly be compared to Hochi Minh and his associates who had won their credentials during decades of struggle against French colonialism.

In Vietnam, the US and its Western allies had some 600,000 troops committed to the war. In Iraq that number is around 150,000.

The US task force in Vietnam was a conscript army while the one in Iraq is an entirely voluntary one. In Vietnam the US lost an average of 25 men each day. In Iraq the figure is two a day.

In Vietnam, apart from the north that was under Communist rule, the Vietcong controlled large chunks of territory both in the Mekong delta and close to the Laotian and Cambodian borders. In Iraq, however, Al Qaeda and the Saddamites control no territory.

As far as treasure is concerned, the Vietnam War was nine times costlier for the US in comparable dollars than the Iraq operation has been.

In Vietnam, Hanoi and the Vietcong received support from the Soviet Union and China. In Iraq, support for opponents of the democratic system comes from Iran and Syria.

Also unlike the era of Vietnam, there is no grass-root movement in the US in sympathy with either Al Qaeda or the Saddamites; Not even the most determined anti-Bush figures in the US are prepared to openly side with Saddam Hussein and Abu-Ayyub al-Masri.

There is one other major reason why Iraq will not be “another Vietnam.” That reason is George W Bush, possibly the most stubborn US leader since President Harry S Truman. Bush is not a cut-and-run type, especially at a time that he enters the second half of his final term in office and must be thinking of his place in history.

Having said all that Iraq may yet become “another Vietnam” in only one sense. The Americans may still decide to snatch defeat from the jaws of military victory just as they did in Vietnam. There are many in the US political and cultural elite who want Iraq to fail with an almost pathological ardour solely to get at George W Bush and his supposed cabal of “neoncons”. A Democrat controlled Congress could cut the budget for the US troops in Iraq, forcing their withdrawal.

But even if there is a new Congress controlled by the Democrats it is not at all certain that it would cut the troops’ budget and send that last helicopter to get the last Americans out of Baghdad. Apart from a lunatic fringe, no one in the Democrat Party is advocating a cut-and-run policy in Iraq.

This is because they know that Iraqis not another Vietnam. In Iraq, the US and its allies have achieved all their political objectives that included the dismantling of Saddam Hussein’s machinery of war and repression and the restoration of power to the Iraqi people. In Vietnam, however, the US failed to dismantle the Communist-Vietcong machinery of war and repression, and certainly did not restore power to the people even in the southern half of the country

A precipitous US withdrawal from Iraq is certain to complicate matters for the newly created democratic system.

But it would not mean a seizure of power by Al Qaeda and the Saddamites. The terrorists and the insurgents could continue killing people and causing mayhem for many more years just as their counterparts did in Algeria, Egypt and Turkey among others. But one thing is certain: Al Qaeda and Saddamites will never rule in Baghdad.

If the Iraqis wish to end the coalition’s military presence they have an opportunity to do so at the end of this year when the UN mandate under which the US-led forces are in Iraq comes to an end. But if the Iraqi parliament decides to extend the US-led coalition’s mandate, that decision should be respected and supported.

When it invaded Iraq, the US-led coalition entered into a moral contract with the Iraqi people. Under that contract the coalition to destroy the Saddamite tyranny and transfer power to the people of Iraq. In exchange, the Iraqi people were required to create a pluralist system based on power sharing among all the communities. The Iraqis have laid the foundations of precisely such a system. The US-led coalition must help defend this new system against its enemies until new Iraq is in a position to protect itself.

The best judgment at present is that new Iraq will need the coalition’s support for another 18 months or so. What is important is that, despite the violence and numerous social and economic problems, the new pluralist system in Iraq is deepening its roots, while a new political culture is taking shape. In other words there is something worth preserving, something worth fighting for. While new tactics may be needed to adapt to new conditions on the ground, especially in dealing with a highly protean insurgency, the strategy in Iraq remains as valid as it was four years ago. This is a strategy of creating an Iraq that belongs to all Iraqis and will never again be dominated by a single clan, let alone a brutal despot


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: elrushbo; majoritykeeper; rushlimbaugh; talkradio
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To: Republican Red

Brian Ross is in charge of The Penis Patrol? whodathunkit


61 posted on 10/27/2006 9:12:15 AM PDT by Fudd Fan (Stop RAT infestation... VOTE REPUBLICAN!!)
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To: angcat

Check the link in post 57.


62 posted on 10/27/2006 9:12:33 AM PDT by UKRaddell (I might be movin' to Montana soon)
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To: ChicagoConservative27
The real test will be what the media does with Rush's commentary on WEbb.

After all they hyperventilated over the Fox comments.

Rush struggling with the reading now. It's unbearable to hear.

63 posted on 10/27/2006 9:12:36 AM PDT by OldFriend (CNN ~ GIVING THE TERRORISTS A FAIR SHAKE)
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To: Republican Red

LMAO. Brian Ross must have been busy with Katrina again...


64 posted on 10/27/2006 9:12:41 AM PDT by MaestroLC ("Let him who wants peace prepare for war."--Vegetius, A.D. Fourth Century)
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To: Republican Red

Here comes the Brokeback Candidate....


65 posted on 10/27/2006 9:12:59 AM PDT by RasterMaster (Winning Islamic hearts and minds.........one bullet at a time!)
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To: American Quilter

City's great, weather sucks!
Same old, same old...


66 posted on 10/27/2006 9:13:21 AM PDT by UKRaddell (I might be movin' to Montana soon)
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To: OldFriend

Makes me wanna puke.


67 posted on 10/27/2006 9:13:29 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
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To: OldFriend

Webb certainly sounds like he's writing for pedophiles and sexual predators......sick stuff....


68 posted on 10/27/2006 9:13:40 AM PDT by auto power
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To: acsrp38
Years ago, our town tried to eliminate recess altogether because the teachers refused to go out with the children. They said they're professionals and it would be demeaning to mind the children during recess.

Some schools hired aides to go outside but the cost was prohibitive.

69 posted on 10/27/2006 9:14:03 AM PDT by OldFriend (CNN ~ GIVING THE TERRORISTS A FAIR SHAKE)
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To: RasterMaster

Rush, what a gross cite! Ew. Hope we'll move on soon...


70 posted on 10/27/2006 9:14:04 AM PDT by American Quilter (You can't negotiate with people who are dedicated to your destruction.)
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To: MNJohnnie

WHAT?

SMUT on the radio with Rush now too?

what a time to tune in....

bananas on the bar and....oh dear...

Thank God the kids are in school....


71 posted on 10/27/2006 9:14:26 AM PDT by eeevil conservative (I am a Religious Zealot from the right wing church of hate......)
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To: RasterMaster

I really must get out more.

Strippers doing the splits over a banana?


72 posted on 10/27/2006 9:14:26 AM PDT by Republican Red (if you don't want to root for the home team then get the hell out of the stadium)
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To: RasterMaster
Eeeeewwwwwww! Webb has some serious pervert issues.
73 posted on 10/27/2006 9:14:49 AM PDT by MaestroLC ("Let him who wants peace prepare for war."--Vegetius, A.D. Fourth Century)
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To: UKRaddell
City's great, weather sucks! Same old, same old...

I read a lot over here about the increasing presence of Muslims in London ("Londonistan", etc.). Since you actually live there, I'd love to know what your perception is.

74 posted on 10/27/2006 9:15:59 AM PDT by American Quilter (You can't negotiate with people who are dedicated to your destruction.)
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To: American Quilter

Wow, you fast. Love your tagline


75 posted on 10/27/2006 9:16:18 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (EeevilCon, Snowflake, Conservative Fundamentalist Gun Owning Bush Bot Dittohead reporting for duty!)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Rush is asking for bananas!!!!


76 posted on 10/27/2006 9:16:33 AM PDT by DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon)
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To: MNJohnnie
Good afternoon, Johnnie...thanks for the ping...in a work filled week, here in work, lurk, n'lunch mode...
77 posted on 10/27/2006 9:16:36 AM PDT by LibertyLee (George W. Bush a Great President--US out of the UN and UN out of the US!)
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To: MNJohnnie

Thanks, Johnnie!


78 posted on 10/27/2006 9:17:17 AM PDT by American Quilter (You can't negotiate with people who are dedicated to your destruction.)
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To: OldFriend

Rush shouldn't go there. He can make his point, and connect the dots without reading that stuff. He's doing it now by cleverly comparing Hastert, and Foley, and pages with what Webb wrote.


79 posted on 10/27/2006 9:17:21 AM PDT by YaYa123
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To: DCPatriot

Mr. Webb in one sick puppy.


80 posted on 10/27/2006 9:17:36 AM PDT by gov_bean_ counter ( I am sitting under my cone of silence, inside a copper wire cage wearing a tin foil hat...)
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