More than 40 years ago, a power-hungry Texan and his arrogant Defense secretary caused the invasion of South Vietnam, a small, weak country that was never a threat to us. What was seen as communist aggression was, in fact, a civil war culminating a century-long effort by the Vietnamese to rid their country of foreign influence.
Lyndon Johnson never understood that, nor did our forces understand the culture or the language of the country. The excuse for the invasion was based on human error or outright lies and the Congress relinquished its war-making powers to the president. What followed were years of slaughter on a massive scale, abuse of civilians, corrupt contractors and government lies. The news media was accused of negativity and war protesters were called traitors. There was no exit strategy and so we "stayed the course." Sound familiar?
Fifty-eight thousand fine young Americans died and tens of thousands more were injured in mind and body. In the end, the Vietnamese got want they wanted and they're still no threat to us.
Now it seems like "deja vu all over again." We find ourselves bogged down in an ill-advised and badly prosecuted war in Iraq. Our national wealth is being squandered, our young people are dying and we're creating terrorists faster than we can kill them. George Bush says that success is in the future. History says otherwise. I'll go with history.
No matter how long the troops are kept in Iraq, the final struggle that determines the future of the country will take place after they leave. It is better to get them out now.
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Bill Thiessen
Bemidji
