June 01, 2006
The Sands of My Lai
Jed Babbin on the coming political storm over the Haditha killings:
No matter how quickly military investigators work, and no matter how firmly any crimes are punished, the anti-war left won't be satisfied unless Haditha becomes the lever that pushes President Bush to admit the war was wrong and set a time to withdraw from Iraq. My Lai - the March 16, 1968 massacre of about 500 Vietnamese by US soldiers - was first covered up and then exploded in headlines, courts-martial and congressional hearings. (Maureen Dowd, one of the New York Times's hyperliberal columnists, has already labeled Haditha a "My Lai acid flashback.") Screamed about by protesters, shown endlessly on television news, My Lai and the court-martial of one of the perpetrators, Lt. William Calley, provided the final political nail in the coffin of American involvement in Vietnam. We withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, abandoning our allies and hanging our heads in shame. This is the political result the left wants from Haditha, and we cannot allow it to happen for one very big reason. The Vietnam War ended in Vietnam, leaving America incapable of taking action in defense of itself or its allies for decades. The end of the war against the terrorist nations won't occur in Iraq, and we must be prepared - psychologically and politically - to continue the fight. When we lost Vietnam the enemy didn't follow us home. Radical Islamists will. If they win, we will literally lose America.
Read the rest, which includes a sobering analysis of why the military will not be able to fight back in the arena of public opinion.
No doubt about it, it's gonna get bad. But I can't help wondering if the anti-war crown may not very well overplay their hand. Iraq isn't Vietnam, despite what many on the Left wish. (And on that subject, be sure to read James Taranto's Best of the Web analysis from yesterday - first item.) Furthermore, I think the public attitude towards the military is both better informed and more sympathetic than it was back then. If the anti-war crowd pushes too far, I think they could very well provoke an unintended backlash against themselves.
Of course, this may just be wishful thinking. Because I shudder to contemplate what happens if we do cut and run.
Posted by Robert at June 1, 2006 01:30 PM | TrackBackHere's the thing, most Americans stand behind the military and support it and the war. The media don't. Sadly the media get to put forth whatever view they choose, which is usually of the "we hate the military complex and everything they stand for" variety. So the negative press and the assumption of guilt will continue to show. What I pray is that the cooler heads of the smarter American people prevail through the investigation and ultimate outcome.
Posted by: jen at June 1, 2006 02:09 PMThose who drove America from Vietnam never pause to reflect on the cost to those remaining in Southeast Asia: the death camps and genocide of Pol Pot, the "reeducation camps" in the South, massive number of refugees, the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives in the South China Sea, and a decade of Soviet military adventurism ranging from Latin America to Africa to Afganistan. We will pay the bill if we leave the Iraqis to Baathist die-hards and Al Qeida thugs and we will pay it in blood.
Posted by: LMC at June 1, 2006 03:42 PM
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