A Glimpse From October 2005
America At War
Are we on the Viet Nam path Out of Iraq?
October 02, 2005
Fox News “War Stories” with Ollie North on 10/02/2005 focused on the indecision of American leaders during the Viet Nam war and the terrible price our pilots, and in effect, all troops paid.
President Johnson and Defense Secretary McNamara during the Viet Nam war (neither one knowing anything about fighting a war) demonstrated a callous disregard for the lives of our troops and welfare of our nation, by spending more time focusing on what our “cold war” enemies would think of U.S. decisions than the life threatening impact on our own troops and success of the war.
Fast forward forty years to the middle east conflict in Iraq. President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld are engaged in some of the same indecision that cost us victory in the Viet Nam war.
As in the Viet Nam war, the anti-war rabble is again raising it’s ugly head, having never learned “freedom is not free”, our troops in the middle east are being second guessed, hamstrung with limitations on what can and cannot be attacked, which raises the question… where is the war in Iraq being managed. My guess is that Washington is still calling the shots, otherwise our Generals would have insisted Syria be in the cross-hairs long ago.
During the Viet Nam war, Washington was making tactical decisions which nearly always put our pilots and ground troops at a disadvantage. Rather than being bold, aggressive, and fighting on our terms to win, politicians were more concerned about what the “Russians would do”. Great thought was given to our bombs falling on Russians assisting North Vietnamese in the north but little thought of North Vietnamese artillery located in Cambodia firing on us in South Viet Nam with impunity…we were not allowed to take action against North Vietnamese in Cambodia…U.S. politicians, in effect, protected our enemy which resulted in American lives lost.
Now the same scenario is reflected in Iraq… instead of taking action on Syria and Iran for supporting the enemy in Iraq, we allow them to funnel money, weapons, and materiel into Iraq with impunity. President Bush and others appear more concerned what France, Germany, the UN and other pip squeak nations will think. The Iraq war is being waged with an emphasis on politics at the expense of our troops…our decision makers are hell-bent on repeating the Viet Nam mistake.
I view the fight in Iraq as just, honorable, necessary, and President Bush did the right thing in taking Saddam out. However, politicians have no backbone, our troops are put in a rut, we are treading water as men and women die, while the “get out” cry becomes more shrill…in short, our superior fighting force is muzzled.
Syria and Iran are our enemies. We are allowing them to kill our warriors without being held accountable. Our troops are once again fighting with one hand while the enemy is given the advantage. Syria and Iran should pay a heavy price for their support of the Al Qaeda butchers.
President Bush states “the war in Iraq is central to defeating terrorism”…if that’s what he believes, then why does he not fight the war accordingly?
If we are unwilling to take the fight to the enemy, even if it means involving another nation, it will only be a matter of time until we tuck our tail, exit Iraq, and build another wall of names.
Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret