As Valin says, "History takes time. It is not an instant thing."
The problem, of course, is that while victory is not 'an instant thing', neither is defeat. We're spiraling towards a slow but inevitable defeat in the public arena, due to failed efforts abroad. The core of the terrorist's strategy is to pursue a gradual victory, and to use our cultural and political weaknesses against us. They understand that time is on their side, not ours. We knew that too, going in. Come 2008, the public will be ready to abandon Iraq to whatever wolves want it.
No amount of flag waving, scare mongering, or name calling will stiffen the spine of the American people, if they don't have faith in the competence of their leaders. No effort of skilled troops will succeed where poor leadership and flawed strategies reign.
It was the obsequious cooperation of the Emperor's followers that convinced him it was safe to proceed outside without clothes on. So, laugh, cry, point it out, or pretend otherwise, but he's naked. It's up to him to put some pants on.
When the Communist forces in SE Asia attacked every provincial capital in South Vietnam simultaneously they hoped for a popular uprising and a military victory.
They did not achieve a military victory with the Tet holiday offensive, in fact, a dismal military failure. The Viet Cong were, for all practical purposes, wiped out as a fighting force, NVA Regular troop losses were high, no territory had been gained after Hue City had been taken back, and no popular uprising had handed the Communists so much as a single province.
However, the Press, right here in the US and elsewhere, managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by their presentation of the Tet offensive as a defeat for our forces.
That desperate blow, struck by our enemies in a futile attempt to gain a military victory, was turned by our own Media into a victory for the enemy.
How? By the steady media drumbeat of " failure ". Tet… failure... Strategic Hamlet program… failure... MyLai... failure... Ho Chi Minh Trail... failure... Operation Linebacker… failure... Khe Sanh besieged... failure... Dien Bien Phu…(not even our battle, for God's sake!).
The drum beats on…
The same media (plus CNN and other 'new kids on the block') which spew ravings of doom and gloom in Iraq lost the war in Vietnam (for the US and the South Vietnamese, anyway)..
Now add to the current concert the enemy's media and willing dupes in high places and low who will not hesitate to create 'evidence' to smear our forces or present questionable evidence as gospel.
Hell, they as much as announced they were going to do the same to our troops in Iraq by equating Iraq to Vietnam early on in the war... and they will, if we let them.
Stir into the potent brew of partisan politics nostalgic and aging hippies whose only memory of adolescent relevance came from smoking dope and picking up what's her/his name at the peace rally ( Oh sh*t, was it that long ago? ), a new crop of rudderless younglings seeking relevance, and a wide assortment of people (both foreign and domestic) who have significant cultural, economic, and/or military reasons for wanting the hegemony of the United States reduced, and there is an uphill battle, alright.
But that battle is right here at home. The 'hearts and minds' we need to win are right here.
Regardless of what transpires on the battlefield, to the uninformed, the flow of what the media have so sweetly dubbed "insurgents" coming down the pipeline looks much the same.
What does water look like coming out of the tap just before the water runs out?
Water.
Far be it from our media to emphasize the differences in background, training, and even nationality of those captured and killed in opposition to our forces and allies, just as they refused to mention the significance of fighting increasing numbers of North Vietnamese Army regular troops during the Vietnam War after the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Instead, they just stuff the lens deeper into the flow to make it appear more intense, and anything done to increase the pressure just makes for better copy and sells more ad space/time.
Sadly, although the proportion is decreasing, huge numbers of Americans (those who are even paying attention, anyway) still get their news from the same two column-inch, quick soundbyte, voice-over media in which every term is carefully selected to provide a certain resonance, an ambience, and leave a subtle semantic impression on the listener/reader.
In the case of Iraq: " Gloom... Bush=failure ... Doom... Iraq= Vietnam... Slaughter... Bush=evil... (even) Hurricane... Bush=failure Iraq... quagmire... and the drumbeat goes on, wearying to those who are paying attention, who recognize it for what it is, who tire of rebuttal of terms which are used so deeply in the basic framework of articles as to form fundamental axioms for the uninformed. Bush lied…
While we poke fun at lousy grammar, poor syntax, and even incorrect usage, the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) drumbeat continues, mesmerizing the masses even through the bad writing.
"Tarzan, what drums say?"
"Bush's fault".
Unless and until the American people realize that in this instance there will be no peaceful withdrawal (oh it might work apace while the enemy gathers strength), as ultimately a refreshed and rested enemy will carefully select targets for maximum shock value and strike us here at the time of their own choosing.
Be assured any failures of resolve in Iraq and elsewhere will follow us home, not as some sort of national embarrassment, but in the form of an enemy who is gaining prestige and the power that goes with it every time they count coup against the "Great Satan"--an enemy whose religiously-based desire for world domination differs from similar politically-based desire in that to the faithful it is demanded by their god, and great rewards await in the afterlife for those willing to sacrifice themselves in order to make it so.
This is not some mere political difference to be negotiated away, although I fully understand that to the secular humanists of the Left, who believe ultimately in nothing, anything can be negotiated, which renders them incapable of understanding the mentality of those to whom "It is written" carries the weight of words carved in stone by God himself.
To those who hold such beliefs, there is no negotiation, only the 'out' their prophet has given them of being able, no, encouraged to lie to the infidel for the purpose of advancing the worldwide dominance of Islam and all that goes with it.
Think about that for a second.
Realize that the years of pandering to "victimhood" on the Left have rendered the Left into the ultimate pool of ready victims waiting for a victimizer, for someone to take advantage of them, because being able to wail about being victimized is their currency, their stock in trade. They even create 'victims' where none really exist so they, in a fit of do-gooderness reminiscent of Munchausen Syndrome can create political coin by 'addressing' the issue--not fixing anything--(that would remove part of their political base), but talking about it.
'Having dialogue.'
Those who would 'have dialogue', rather than have us stand our ground and continue to reduce the ranks of our enemies, one at a time if need be, in a foreign venue, are incapable of understanding that there will be no dialogue with those selfsame enemies if we fail to persist and prevail.
It is hard to 'have dialogue' when someone is sawing your head off with a dull knife.
Just as the steady drumbeat lulls the sacrifice into a trance, so Americans are being lulled into a trance by the drumbeat of propaganda from the media.
Its hypnotic rhythm continues in the background, even as we attempt, bleary-eyed, to fight an enemy who will not capitulate readily nor soon. An enemy who only waits for their foe to doze off in the watchtowers, to become complacent, and to forget the horror of watching as aircraft plowed into the Twin Towers and thousands of countrymen died in what was finally an undeniable and graphic act of terror on our shores.
Unfortunately, that act was presented to the American Public, not as the culmination of a decades long series of escalating attacks, but in an incomprehensible denial of perspective, as an isolated and unique incident, to be blamed on 'he for whom the drum beats'.
Denied that perspective, Americans will not understand the nature of the inexorable, persistent and pervasive threat they face until again, there will be no denying it.
May Almighty God help us find our resolve then (in the face of that slaughter, if we fail to find it now, else the 'great experiment' will die with a whimper.
You nailed it, Steel Wolf, as usual. It's good to see someone who's actually been here inject a little reality. I know I'd fit into the "defeatist" definition offered here. No doubt in my mind. And I'm out fighting in this gaggle constantly!
You said -- "The problem, of course, is that while victory is not 'an instant thing', neither is defeat. We're spiraling towards a slow but inevitable defeat in the public arena, due to failed efforts abroad. The core of the terrorist's strategy is to pursue a gradual victory, and to use our cultural and political weaknesses against us. They understand that time is on their side, not ours. We knew that too, going in. Come 2008, the public will be ready to abandon Iraq to whatever wolves want it."
That's for sure. You've got it right. Expect to see the "defeat" come right after 2008. There's no spine (and appears that there wasn't before, either) to fight like it was in WWII. Who knows if there would be the will to destroy the enemy even if they were to do another 9/11 event. Even then, I wonder...
And also, "No amount of flag waving, scare mongering, or name calling will stiffen the spine of the American people, if they don't have faith in the competence of their leaders. No effort of skilled troops will succeed where poor leadership and flawed strategies reign."
That's for sure. The people appear to not have a spine for it. And, they just about didn't have a spine for it back during the days of WWII either -- until -- Japan attacked and Germany declared war on the U.S. right afterwards. If not for those events, we might not have fought WWII like WWII.
Regards,
Star Traveler