John O’Sullivan on Iraq & Vietnam on National Review Online
John O’Sullivan on Iraq & Vietnam on National Review Online
I found this a YEAR late, but if you missed it too, it’s worth reading or repeating.
For all you Vietnam Veterans who served proudly (unlike Hanoi John), THANK YOU.
A quote from the article:
Both the media and the Democrats seem to have convinced themselves that Iraq is turning into another Vietnam — namely, a quagmire in which U.S. soldiers struggle vainly to defeat guerrilla forces that enjoy popular support against a foreign occupation.
That is a false picture on two grounds. First, Iraq is not turning into another Vietnam. And, second, Vietnam itself is not accurately portrayed by the “quagmire” thesis. Indeed, if Vietnam is to be the comparison of first resort in whatever conflict the U.S. finds itself, we need a better understanding of its general significance.
…U.S. intervention in Vietnam was a major factor is achieving the West’s overall victory in the Cold War. It held the line while freedom and prosperity were established in non-Communist Asia — and that provided the rest of the world, including the evil empire itself, with a “demonstration effect” of how freedom led to prosperity.
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