For years we were told that to pull out of Vietnam would mean those who died had died in vain. So we stayed, thousands of young Americans died, our entire culture changed, our Army went to all volunteer, it was a moment in time for our country. Two years after we withdrew troops from Vietnam, turning to Vietnamese to protect and defend the country, the North Vietnamese sliced through the Army "trained" by US like a hot knife through butter. We were left pushing aircraft off ships so we could airlift people from our embassy. If you haven't seen the films of those days, you're missing a low point in our history. Today Vietnam has a Communist government. We have full trade relations with them.
I see no difference in Iraq. We've been "training" their military and police for two years. At a recent graduation ceremony for Iraqi police, some of the "trained" policemen took off their uniforms, threw down their guns and quit. They had just discovered they'd have to move to another region of the country to work and they refused to do it. So we'll start all over again, recruit candidates to replace them, spend billions training, and maybe, just maybe, they'll stand and defend their city or state.
If you think the Bush Bunch had a plan, you're not paying attention. The first General in charge of training the Iraqi military and police is on record as saying he was surprised to be contacted after Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech to go to Iraq and start that training. And he had to start from scratch. There was no plan in place to protect the Iraqi people from thugs, kidnappers, crooks, insurgents.
It's so sad after all these years you're blaming the "liberal hippies" for our failure in Vietnam. We tried to push our lifestyle on people who didn't want it. Same in Iraq. Vietnam was never important to the safety and security of the United States. In spite of Bush's efforts to claim that Iraq was a threat to this country, more and more people are realizing it's not true.
No. Another dead American doesn't honor the already dead Americans. It only means another orphan, weeping parents, lonely wives. Our soldiers have toppled Saddam. They're not trained for nation building. They've done their job; it's time to bring them home with the honor they deserve. If the Iraqis want to kill each other, let them. If they want to come together and build a country, let them. We can give them diplomatic support and assistance. More than one General is on record as saying they think the presence of American troops fuels the insurgents.