Remembering Vietnam (and Iraq)

[Adelante]

Remembering Vietnam

In attacking John Kerry's anti-war record, his opponents are rewriting US history - and all to justify the Iraq invasion

Robert Buzzanco
Saturday March 27, 2004
The Guardian

Now that John Kerry has secured the Democratic nomination for president, recent attacks on his anti-war activities in the Vietnam era are sure to intensify. His political opponents - Vietnamese emigres and pro-war veterans - have been attacking the former national spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), painting him as an extremist, weak on issues of national security, or even disloyal.

This is more than an assault on Kerry's politics, it is part of a larger, and sustained effort by conservatives to revise the Vietnam war into a righteous cause that was not lost on the battlefield but undermined at home. In trying to make Americans forget how unpopular and divisive the war was, these people are trying to make it easier to justify interventions in Iraq, Haiti, Venezuela or elsewhere.

In truth, however, Kerry's views on the war reflected the mindset of a large majority of Americans and, crucially, were widely shared within the military establishment. Indeed, military leaders were never optimistic about their prospects in Vietnam, were realistic about the problems there, and often openly opposed the war. That same dynamic is at play today: a significant number of high-ranking US military officials warned against war in Iraq and have continued to criticise the Bush administration's efforts there, putting the president in the anomalous position of offering pro-military rhetoric while ignoring the counsel of his armed forces.

~snip~

Wesley Clark, a former Nato commander, was able to channel his warnings to expect "a quick war, then lots of trouble" into a serious candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president. Clark especially feared the "long-term risk from a devastating defeat of Saddam that is extremely dangerous - a deepening of the Arab sense of humiliation across the region. They will view the American and allied victory as a reimposition of colonialism." And he added: "Another danger is that Iraq could become a battleground of fundamentalists. There is little our American soldiers can do to prevent this - it will depend on establishing quickly an effective Iraqi government."

~more~

Source: The Guardian 3/27/04

[Narf]

1. Wouldn't it be terrible to have a President who actually was anti-war?

Imagine that....hundreds of thousands of American troops NOT attacking anyone, NOT killing anyone, and NOT getting killed for Haliburton. What a terrible country we would be living in, eh?

[m-jean03]

2. We had a local editorial in the Seattle P-I

to this effect. A guy was completely defending the Vietnam War, and using manipulative facts to back up his argument, all to say that people shouldn't "go along with the herd" protesting Iraq. I thought it smelled fishy, and much the sentiment of this article mirrors my reaction .