The president said there was much to be learned from the divisive Vietnam War _ the longest conflict in U.S. history _ as his administration contemplates new strategies for the increasingly difficult war in Iraq, now in its fourth year. But his critics see parallels with Vietnam _ a determined insurgency and a death toll that has drained public support _ that spell danger for dragging out U.S. involvement in Iraq.Link. (Typos in the original.)
"It's just going to take a long period of time for the ideology that is hopeful _ and that is an ideology of freedom _ to overcome an ideology of hate," Bush said after having lunch at his lakeside hotel with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of America's strongest allies in Iraq, Vietnam and other conflicts.
"We'll succeed," Bush added, "unless we quit."
A less brilliant person, such as myself, would point out that we lost in Vietnam but quitting freed them from decades of war based on a clear misunderstanding of communism, freed the country so that is now a member of the WTo. And some day may even be a free country. (Ut's a rightist canard that capitalism requires political freedom, right Singapore? China? Taiwan? Saudi Arabia?) (As for the fear of communism: it is a patently untenable system, doomed to failure.)
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