May 4, 2004 — WHAT to do about Iraq? I was bombarded with this question during a recent visit to the United States.
The question is based on two assumptions. First, that Iraq is about to plunge into one of the nightmare scenarios discussed by self-styled experts on TV. Second, that there is some kind of magic wand that one could wave to transform Iraq into a paradise of freedom and prosperity.
Both assumptions are false.
The nightmares are often peddled by those who had opposed the liberation because they didn’t wish to see a U.S.-led coalition bring down a Third World dictator. The doomsayers’ initial prediction was that, deprived of its oppressor, Iraq would plunge into civil war. That has not happened, so they now warn of chaos, and predict a nationwide insurrection against the Coalition.
But is Iraq really plunging into chaos? Anyone in contact with Iraqi realities would know that the answer is: No. . . .
What to do in Iraq? The answer is simple: Don’t lose your nerve!
Yes, Iraq can become another Vietnam – not because of anything that’s happening there, but because America and its allies, for reasons of domestic politics, might panic and transform victory into defeat.
Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, a warning about Vietnam nostalgia on the part of some:
FOR many of us, the words “Vietnam War” evoke only a sense of loss and a painful acknowledgement that this country suffered a dreadful defeat, with tens of thousands of lives snuffed out and tens of millions of Vietnamese consigned to life under the Stalinist jackboot.
For others, however, thoughts of the Vietnam War conjure up a sense of moral triumph. They opposed the war, and their opposition was a key element in this nation’s withdrawal from the battlefield over the course of the Nixon presidency. . . . Keep this fact in mind when considering the actions of CBS News and The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh.
Indeed. (If you’re not the scrolling-down type — and you should be, on this blog — you can click here for a much longer post on this topic.)
UPDATE: Justin Katz has thoughts on Vietnam nostalgia and observes by email:
Between Fallujah, Koppel, and Abu Ghraib, last week saw a hat trick for those longing to relive Vietnam (lived, as it was the first time, from the safety of suburbs and campuses).
Indeed.