Iraq isn't Vietnam, Henry(Max Boot)

los angeles times ^ | July 22, 2007 | Max Boot

[kellynla]

As congress debates the war in Iraq, it's becoming clear that many lawmakers want to bring the troops home while avoiding the likely consequences -- a ruinous civil war and a calamitous victory for Iran and Al Qaeda. This has led to much pining for some kind of negotiated solution -- what the Iraq Study Group called a "new diplomatic offensive" -- that might allow us a graceful exit.

Enter Henry Kissinger, the octogenarian "wise man" who is an advisor to President Bush. While rightly stressing that a "precipitate withdrawal" of U.S. forces would result in a "geopolitical calamity," he suggested in a recent syndicated column that "a sustainable political end to the conflict" can be achieved not through military action but through "wise and determined American diplomacy" that engages everyone from internal Iraqi players to Iran and Indonesia.

He didn't mention it in the column, but there is little doubt that Kissinger had in mind his own actions in negotiating the 1973 Paris peace accords that ended direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Indeed, some of his previous essays -- including one that ran in this paper in May -- have been explicit in citing his own experience as a model to learn from.

How seriously should we take him? Is it really possible that a super-skilled secretary of State -- someone like, umm, Henry Kissinger -- could deliver "peace with honor" today? It didn't work the last time around. Why should it work now?

[syriacus]

Under Truman, we freed South Korea in 1945 and abandoned it in 1949.

In 1950, Truman sent troops back to South Korea to free it from the Communist North Korean army of Kim il-Sung which had invaded and occupied most of S. Korea earlier that year.

30,000 Americans died in the remaining 30 months of Truman's presidency, because we had abandoned S. Korea prematurely instead of lingering there like we did in Germany and Japan.

[ChessExpert]

I always like reading Max Boot. Thanks for finding and posting.

“Skilled diplomacy can consolidate the results of military success but can seldom make up for its lack. ...
The only thing that could conceivably alter their calculations is a change in the balance of power on the ground. That is what Army Gen. David Petraeus is trying to achieve. But he is being undermined by incessant withdrawal demands from home, which are convincing our enemies that they can wait us out.”

[kellynla]

You’re very welcome.
Max Boot is one of the few bright lights on the LAT editorial pages. Especially since the LAT canceled Michael Ramirez’s political cartoons which were the ONLY reason I had previously checked out the op/ed pages of the LAT in the past.

[Mad_as_heck]

Hitchens also argues that Kissinger is a war criminal. Is he right about that?

Although I'm not a big fan of Kissinger: No. Hitchens is equally off base with his criticisms of Israel. He is a genuine hard core leftist with all the wrongness that entails on so many issues: It is also what makes his brave opposition to Islamicism so worthy of recognition and praise.

[Impeach98]

Yes, this was an outstanding OpEd. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was educational & informative while at the same time being an intriguing read. I emailed it out to the Move America Forward staff universe as I think they all will find it a worthwhile read as well. Thanks much for posting it here at FR.