Reply to Michael USA
Reader comment on item: Lee Harvey Oswald's Malign Legacy
in response to reader comment: Vietnam Just Fuel, Not Fire

Submitted by Lars Nielsen (Denmark), Dec 21, 2007 at 06:03

Dear Michael

Thank You to my comments on why it was not Lee Harvey Oswald but the vietnam war, which created the american left wing reluctance to go to war.

Because You are right. The average american and the american soldiers did not want to fight that war, and therefore, JFK skould not have stepped up that war, if he could not convince the american people of its necessity. The same is of course true for president Johnson, but he could not step back without losing face, so he was somewhat trapped by JFK´s illadvised intervention.

Because, if You intervene, You become obliged. Obliged to the peole in South Vietnam, who fought alongside the american forces, and committed to win, because else your enemies may inavoidably think, that You will also give up next time, You meet strong resistance.

And in this respect, the iraqui war resembles the vietnamese war, because You already hear people saying. Let´s give up. Let´s go home. It is not our war, and You also hear of problems with recruiting soldiers, and a president, who has lost his popularity over the war.

But on the other hand, You also hear of internal rivalry between iraqis, which may be exploited to the advantage of the american troops. So maybe U.S. will learn from this, that divide et impera, may be the secret war to siege in a guerilla warfare.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.