The Iraq Occupation

A blog by a Dr. John Mark Reynolds has some interesting comments regarding the comparison of Iraq and Vietnam:



"What about Vietnam? Aren't all occupations doomed to failure? First, historically all occupations have not failed. Ask Poland. However, comparisons to other 'occupations' are wrong headed, because we are occupying to liberate. Most other armies claimed they were liberating, but were not. The USA cannot wait to go home. We have no colonial ambitions. The people of Iraq will test this, find it to be true, and learn to trust us.

The left in this nation fears this outcome. Why? Because they know Bush and the Republican party will rightly reap most of the credit. A free Iraq in four years, with a smaller number of American troops living in relative peace, will be the death knell of the modern Democrat party. The war was easier than was anticipated. The occupation has been harder, but we control our destiny. We can go home at any moment we wish. We wish to go home with a free and united Iraq. Wouldn't you hate to belong to a party that has trapped itself into a position where American success means their failure?"



He is partially right concerning the Left's agenda. They do not want to see the Right be right. Also, they are so adamant about the power of paper diplomacy that they cannot allow bullet diplomacy to be successful. There whole weltanshanung is built on the goodness of human nature. Mankind will always do good given the proper motivation. If the Bush Doctrine succeeds in Iraq, where does that leave the Left?



There are tremendous differences between Iraq and Vietnam, as I have stated before. Jay Sevren, a talk show host here in MA, seems to think the only argument for Iraq not being a Vietnam is the comparatively small number of casualties. Thus, the only argument he seems to have for Iraq being a Vietnam is that there are casualties in a country that is not the U.S.A. Iraq and Vietnam are essentially inverse. In Vietnam, we slowly began sending in advisors to help the South Vietnamese fight the oppresive North Vietnamese government. We gradually sent in more and more troops, maintaining of goal of assisting the SV army. We never completely took over the operation. In Iraq, we sent in our full force to remove the oppressive regime. Since then we have kept troops in the country to assist the Iraqis in rebuilding their country. Our goal is to gradually remove to troops until the Iraqis are in controll. We never had a clear and precise goal in Vietnam. We have had a series of goals in Iraqi, most of which we have accomplished. We set out to remove the Baathist regime. Done. We aspired to turn over the government to an interim Iraqi government. Done. We desired that the Iraqis write their own constitution. Done. We set a date at which the Iraqis will hold elections. Soon to be done. We have kept our schedule all along the way. Those that say the country is a mess don't understand regime change at all. If you were to amputate an infected limb, do you think you would be healed in a matter of days? We are on the right track in Iraq. It will take several years of physical therapy to heal the country. I believe in democracy for everyone. I believe Iraq will accept some form of it. I believe the naysayers will be proved dead wrong.