You pointed out that in Vietnam we came in on the wrong side of a civil war. I think history is more complicated than that. We came in on the same side as the French, who had colonized Vietnam, and were perceived as colonizers, outsiders, and the desire to be rid of colonizers was widespread throughout Vietnamese society.
I realize that this point of view was not what we thought we were doing, but we did not know what they thought and did not bother trying, or maybe we did try but failed, I don't know.
I think it's fair to say that many Iraqis resent us for being there in the first place. And their society was crippled by decades of Saddam, so people with initiative have left or were killed. A little patience is called for.
But we have to leave, sooner or later. Sooner better than later.
But it's not Vietnam. They aren't in the throes of a civil war, they aren't fighting an army. You fought the North Vietnamese, you remember how well armed they were.
There's just no comparison, militarily.
When people say "we need to engage in nation-building" they mean we need to set up bases and stay, as we did in Germany and Japan. But they're wrong. The Iraqis don't want to be perceived as puppets of the Americans. We have to go. |
