Vietnam and Iraq. The parallels lend themselves to the American mind and if not obvious, one must only listen to any Congressional proceeding or anti-war protest to hear them. "Iraq is turning into another Vietnam', "we are losing the war", "We must withdraw as soon as possible". All I have to say to these incessant complainers is "Don't we live in America?" Since the end of World War II, the USA has been the most dominant force in the world and has stood the test of time when our greatest enemy, the Soviet Union, could not. We live in the country that has brought the greatest most influential technological advances to the world and has wielded these advancements for the good of the world. We are the "shining city on the hill" whom the world looks to as a guide or as an enemy. We have faced many enemies in our time as a superpower and the superior will of Americans has provided victory in every campaign except for two: Vietnam and Iraq. You may say that Iraq is not over and I agree with you, but if you listen daily to public opinion and many on the left, this war is as good as done. Terrorism represents our next great challenge and what will stop us from final victory? This same force halted our efforts in Vietnam and seeks to hinder our military in Iraq as well: Pessimism.
In Vietnam, our American troops fought valiantly under brilliant generals and should have won the war. The counter culture movement created a wave of pessimism that swept the country and created a dichotomy among the nation's young people. You were either a hippy or you were serving in Vietnam and the hippies spread pessimism at home which undermined the soldiers abroad. We were beating back the Tet Offensive when Walter Cronkite broadcasted live and announced that we were losing. Jane Fonda traveled to Vietnman and bown nosed with the Viet Cong. Mass protests engulfed the nation from Washington D.C. to Woodstock. Richard Nixon's escalation of the war to achieve victory failed under the intense pressure of American public opinion. Many Americans may not want to think so, but the populace at home had more to do with the loss of the war than many think. Since when has losing a war been merely ok? Our Founding Fathers would have been simply embarrassed to see what happened domestically during Vietnam and what is happening domestically today in Iraq.
I agree with many today that we should never have invaded Iraq in 2003, but hindsight does not work in a world that needs foresight. Our committment to our troops and the people of Iraq is to support them and never undermine their efforts. What message do we send as Americans when the Senate majority leader announces that the "war is lost"? We must understand how much public opinion affects our war efforts around the world and the lives of our men and women in harm's way. Americans have lost the mentality of our ancestors, the mentality that we will never lose. This is not merely a partisan issue as one of the greatest proponents of this menatlity was the great John F. Kennedy. "We will not do it because it is easy, but because it is hard." We are Americans and we need to show more pride and less angst toward our troops and the effort that they are executing. The great visionaries ranging from our Founding Fathers to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton believed in this country and made this country the great institution that it is. We must not fail our country and our soldiers by accepting less than total victory and taking the easy road. Too many Americans have sacrificed for victory to allow such defeatism to undermine our further efforts and progress.
