Why We can't "Cut and Run" from Iraq
All of the reasons being given for not "cutting and running" from Iraq are the same ones the Democrats and Republicans gave at the end of the Vietnam War. It would embolden our enemies. It would cause a "domino effect" of Asian countries falling to communism.
The biggest reason given is that it would ruin our reputation abroad. John Prescott, Deputy PM in Tony Blair's government, on Wednesday called the Bush administration's policy in Iraq "crap". China's ambassador to the U.N. dismissively told the U.S. yesterday it would be better for the U.S. to "shut up" about China's growing military capability.
I'd say from those comments that our reputation abroad is already damaged badly. It can only be repaired over time by getting out of Iraq, as we did Vietnam, and restoring our image as a world peacemaker rather than warmonger.
It's hard to believe that anyone in their right mind could use the phrase "domino effect" after it was totally discredited by our retreat from Vietnam. Vietnam is now a trading partner and Thailand never fell to communists. The countries that did go were going to go communist anyway due to the inherent weaknesses of their governments.
People who are making domino effect arguments, as Eric Davis a Rutgers political science professor did at a meeting with President Bush, should be required to repeatedly watch film clips of the helicopters landing on the roof of the American embassy in Vietnam to evacuate our embassy employees as the North Vietnamese entered the embassy grounds.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, I assume Professor Davis wasn't born during the Vietnam War, and hasn't read a lot about it. I also find it questionable why he released a self-promotional copy of his remarks at the luncheon to the press. Anthing to get on TV, I guess.
Believe me, Professor, helicopters airlifting Americans out of the "Green Zone" will look much worse than what comes afterward. There is no such thing as a "domino effect" which assumes an orderly fall of governments. We will reap what we sowed in the Middle East: chaos and destabilization.
The biggest reason given is that it would ruin our reputation abroad. John Prescott, Deputy PM in Tony Blair's government, on Wednesday called the Bush administration's policy in Iraq "crap". China's ambassador to the U.N. dismissively told the U.S. yesterday it would be better for the U.S. to "shut up" about China's growing military capability.
I'd say from those comments that our reputation abroad is already damaged badly. It can only be repaired over time by getting out of Iraq, as we did Vietnam, and restoring our image as a world peacemaker rather than warmonger.
It's hard to believe that anyone in their right mind could use the phrase "domino effect" after it was totally discredited by our retreat from Vietnam. Vietnam is now a trading partner and Thailand never fell to communists. The countries that did go were going to go communist anyway due to the inherent weaknesses of their governments.
People who are making domino effect arguments, as Eric Davis a Rutgers political science professor did at a meeting with President Bush, should be required to repeatedly watch film clips of the helicopters landing on the roof of the American embassy in Vietnam to evacuate our embassy employees as the North Vietnamese entered the embassy grounds.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, I assume Professor Davis wasn't born during the Vietnam War, and hasn't read a lot about it. I also find it questionable why he released a self-promotional copy of his remarks at the luncheon to the press. Anthing to get on TV, I guess.
Believe me, Professor, helicopters airlifting Americans out of the "Green Zone" will look much worse than what comes afterward. There is no such thing as a "domino effect" which assumes an orderly fall of governments. We will reap what we sowed in the Middle East: chaos and destabilization.
posted by Marshall Darts at
9:54 AM
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