It's interesting to live in this country, living in the shadow and spectre of Vietnam. Every conflict inevitably gets measured by it. Some of the measurements are helpful, others are not so helpful. I think we're terrified as a nation to shed our own blood without everything going precisely to a plan, quickly, effectively, no mess. This is an absurd idea, based on the absurd notion that because we got it wrong once before we're likely to get it wrong every time after. I think it was this sort of thinking that led to the debacle in Somalia. I think it was this sort of thinking that made us turn a blind eye to Rwanda. I think it was this sort of thinking that gave OBL the guts to fly planes into our buildings. Since Veitnam many in this country have no stomach for war, and all that it entails. I probably would have included myself in that mix up until a couple months ago. Now I'm changing my mind.

To say that Iraq is equivalent or even similar to Vietnam is a huge mistake. There is no civil war in Iraq (at least not yet). There is no funding coming from other large countries bent on seeing us lose. There is no carpet bombing of innocent civilians. It's not us acting alone, we have allies, and at the least everyone wants us to succeed. Politicians now are much more accountable to the public. etc, etc.

What Vietnam teaches us becomes precisely what won't allow Iraq to go into a tailspin. The fact that people are cynical about leadership, that the media questions the policies of the government, that there is robust public debate. All of these things are the good that Vietnam gives us. We learned our lessons. We criticize our mistakes. We censure leaders and take them to task on every little detail. We have congressional inquiries ongoing in the midst of war. Documents are out in the open.

War is ugly and messy. Vietnam taught us how war can be grossly abused, and it also scared us. The question is, will we always be too scared to see any conflict through to the end? Nothing worth doing is easy, and I'm concerned that the spectre of Vietnam has made us think just the opposite.