The real lesson of Vietnam

I'm sure this is nothing new but I wanted to contribute my take on it. First of all, let's ask the question of why we lost the war in Vietnam. The reason is that we, as a nation, lacked the political will to do what was required to achieve victory. The Tet Offensive was a disaster for the North Vietnamese and the war would likely have been over shortly after except that the enemy was given new hope. This came largely from two events: Walter Cronkite told the nation that the war was unwinnable, and folks like John Kerry and Jane Fonda were falsely painting our soldiers as war criminals. The enemy knew that they would never win the war militarily and that the only way they would win was for the American people to become so opposed to the war that the administration would have no choice but to pull the troops out. That is exactly what happened. A related effect was that American POW's were held considerably longer than they probably would have been otherwise and some didn't return alive at all.

The lesson was reinforced in Somalia with the "Black Hawk Down" incident. We were so used to overwhelming military superiority that we expected any conflict we fought to be virtually casualty-free. Once that event happened, and we were reminded that even US soldiers can still die in battle, the country and the administration in particular lost its will to continue the fight and we pulled out. The after effects of both Vietnam and Somalia are still felt today.

Now we find ourselves in Iraq and, once again, we're reminded that our troops aren't invulnerable. Certainly they are vastly more capable than the enemy they face, both through training and technology, but there are still casualties. While every death is painful, keep in mind that the number of killed is only a fraction of a percent of the total troops we have over there, a casualty rate any commander from any previous major war before Desert Storm would have sold his soul to achieve. And, although you don't generally hear about it on the news, our troops are killing their enemies in much larger numbers.

Once again John Kerry, with the assistance of the media, is trying to turn Iraq into a repeat of Vietnam and Somalia. Via Mike at Cold Fury comes this article in the New York Post:

Soldiers don't beg. But an old friend of mine who's still in uniform came close the other day. He badly wanted me to write another column before Election Day stressing that our troops are winning in Iraq.

He's an Army veteran of three wars. Now he's working to help Iraq become a democratic model for the Middle East. And he's worried.

Not about terrorists or insurgents. He's afraid John Kerry will be elected president.

And that is precisely what the terrorists and insurgents our troops are fighting are hoping for. They're hopelessly outclassed but they hang on because they know that, just as with Vietnam and Somalia, they can still win if the American people lose the will to carry through to victory.

"Kerry's rhetoric is giving the bad guys a thread to hang on," he wrote. "They're hoping we lose our nerve. They're more concerned with the U.S. elections than with the Iraqi ones."

My pal has been involved in every phase of our Iraq operations — dating back to Desert Storm. And he's convinced that the terrorists have risked everything to create as much carnage as they can before Nov. 2. Our troops are killing them left and right. The terrorists are desperate. They can't sustain this tempo of attacks much longer.

But Sen. Kerry insists that we're losing — giving our enemies hope that we'll pull out. No matter what else John Kerry may say, the terrorists only hear his criticisms of our president and our war.

It's the same old game. Emphasize the negative and ignore the positive. The truth is that we're winning over there and the terrorists know it. Kerry and his allies in the media know it, too, and their only hope is to paint as grim a picture as they can because success in Iraq can only look good for Bush. Success like this:

Every day, Iraqis are more engaged in defending their own country. Elections are still on track. The suicide bombings continue, but they haven't deterred Iraq's new government. Nor have they been able to stop the Coalition and Iraq's expanding forces from cleaning out one terrorist rat's nest after another.

Muqtada al-Sadr is quiet as a mouse. Najaf is being rebuilt. Two-thirds of Iraq's provinces are quiet. We never see any headlines about our Kurdish allies in northern Iraq — because they're building a successful modern society in the Middle East. Good-news stories aren't welcome in our undeniably pro-Democratic media.

Go read the whole thing. And remember that, as the author says, "Terror's appetite is only whetted by weakness." Kerry can talk tough all he wants but the truth is that his record belies his claims. Mike has said on several occasions that, even though he's actually going against the party line in his statements about how he will pursue the terrorists and kill them before they have a chance to kill us, his supporters will vote for him because they simply don't believe him. "Actions speak louder than words" is a cliché for a reason and Kerry's record in the Senate, and his actions as a member of VVAW, drown out his current rhetoric in a painful roar. Mike doesn't believe him and I don't believe him. And you can bet the terrorists don't believe him either.

I've said before that I don't believe Kerry will up and pull the troops out of Iraq as soon as he is elected. But his election will inject new hope into the terrorists' black hearts and, even if Iraq doesn't end like Vietnam did, I think it will share with that earlier war the distinction of dragging on longer and costing more lives and treasure than it would if Bush is elected. I don't believe Kerry will do nearly as effective a job in the overall war against terrorists and those who facilitate their actions. I believe that electing Kerry will be seen as capitulation by the terrorists just as surely as what Spain and the Phillipines did after they were treated to the horror of modern terror.