Memorial Day Reading at About.com
Given that America's armed forces remain entangled in the Middle East, consider reviewing this justification for the war from About's Guide to Terrorism, Amy Zalman. Unlike WWI and WWII, we Americans have not been asked to sacrifice at home, and demand for oil continues to rise even though prices also continue to rise.
Before Congress left for its Memorial Day recess, it focused on immigration and passed an emergency spending bill, which the President promptly signed. The bill removed all references to a withdrawal timeline; however press analyses suggest plans are afoot to double the number of troops in Iraq by the end of the year. An additional 13,2000 troops have been deployed since President Bush announced a surge of 20,000 troops in January. As of mid-March, deployment of an additional 28,829 troops had been announced.
The spending bill includes additional funds for post traumatic stress disorder, the subject of an insightful feature in the Seattle Times, focused on Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Adams. See the increase in attacks from IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
Finally, US Foreign Policy Guide Keith Porter reflects on the Vietnam Memorial, and the "imaginary line marking the spot in time" when the American consensus was that the war was "unwinnable." When the Iraq War memorial is built, where will that imaginary line lie?
Comments
Whattacrock! Using a day to remember those who gave their all to go into another partisan attack.
Oh, and thanks for implying your belief that Iraq is “unwinnable”. Many Americans were convinced, by Walter Cronkite and his ilk, that it was by their misreporting of the outcome of the Tet Offensive.
Now we have a slew of naysayers who want be the new Cronkite, to declare “unwinnability”, the new codeword “lose”.
Yes, that is argued, whether “unwinnable” means “lost”.
General Lee retreated from Gettysbutg when he realized he had lost the battle. In 2007 Democrats might say he “redeployed” because Gettysburg was “unwinnable.”
Historians, know that he retreated because he lost. Gen Lee knew it, too. Thinking people know that when we see/hear “unwinnable” and/or “redeploy” we know that the authors/speakers are trying to softsell their real goal, surrender … just like Mr Cronkite led to the downfall of South Vietnam.
Perhaps, someday, these same singers of the “unwinnable” mantra can point as proudly to the aftermath of retreat as they do to the re-education camps, mass murder, and boat people.
Ooops, that’s right. None of the “unwinnable” crowd will mention these things. That truth is too inconvenient,
DPB — please point out what is *partisan* in the above column. In the context of this site, partisan means: “A person who supports a political party or cause over other parties or causes.”
Note that “unwinnable” is in quotation marks — it is not my word/words but a quote from another About guide as he reflects on America’s wars. Did you read that article?