Skip to main content

Good Morning Viet.. err Iraq

So, the USA is sending more troops to Iraq. The argument is that more troops will be able to quell the rising tide of violence in the Baghdad region.

Forty years ago similar arguments were being made about Vietnam. Just a little more and we'll get this under control. Similar rhetoric was used about axes of evil. Similarly allies were dropping back (Margaret Beckett has said the UK will not send more troops). Similarly the US body count is rising- a mere shadow of the civilian body count that grows daily in Iraq. Again the US is trying to make this about clashing ideology with themselves as the holders of all things democratic. Like Vietnam the people just want the US out of their country.

Maybe the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. It makes me sad. It should also make Bush nervous. In his second term he has nothing to lose personally but his legacy to the world is getting darker by the day. If the Vietnam pattern continues The US will see riots in the street, even more givernmental corruption and another generation scarred.

Comments

Michael said…
It's desperately sad.
12:33 pm
Anonymous said…
my brother is going over sometime in may or june. they're not quite sure exactly when yet. he's in the 94th airborn division, and mostly is in the army as a mechanic (ie: he get's to play with hummers and jump out of airplanes... every boy's dream). doesn't seem real yet, all i know is that he's having a blast and that army life fits him. he doesn't like the war part of it though (neither do I and the rest of my family and his wife).

it's really weird to think of my nation in the context of the world... everyone seems to think all american's are weird, and forget that our boys on the front lines are just normal everyday blokes following orders. honeslty, my bro joined up because it makes amazing money and he needed to do something with his life (finally ;-)!). he doesn't have anything against iraq or muslims. the guys that are going over in a few months are going to replace the ones that have been there for a year, to give them a break until the time is right to pull everyone out slowly. i don't agree that we should be over there, and I agree that it's a lot like vietnam. most american's do actually. i don't think rioting will happen, but watch the elections next year, it'll be some of the most exciting we've seen in a long time! most people over here can't wait till 2008 when we can vote in a new president. just pray for my country, we need it, and for my bro, Private Adam Wagner. he used to know Jesus, but rebelled and rejected God in his teen years.
8:20 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living in a post democracy

How to live in a post democracy So- the last post was pretty gloomy, but all is not lost. Here are five things we can do. 1 Register to vote and tell everyone you know to do the same. Our best hope is to vote and make our voices heard in the time honoured fashion. Vote in everything, even if you spoil your paper. We have to show that this is still the way. 2 Subscribe. If we want a diverse media we have to pay for it. Become a member of the Guardian or pay for the Independent online. Or buy the Mirror. And for goodness sake BUY A TV LICENCE! You may also want to consider joining a Union. 3 Support the positive. For those of us who can afford local, organic produce then lets be intentional about it. Lets be intentional about using local energy supply and seeking companies who already have a commitment to things like good food labelling and non GM (which also includes Aldi and Iceland as far as I am aware). There is a list of companies who are anti TTIP. They are primarily...
Post a Comment
Read more

Poppies, jingoism and the word absurd!

Morning one and all. Well I am back from holiday and in a particularly shoot from the hip place! So today's topic of tirade is poppy fascism! Its a strong comment but I think its where we have gotten to as a nation. As I tap away many folks are getting in a little tizzy about the fact that England can't wear poppies on their shirts on Saturday. FIFA is being pilloried as if they had run over the Queen Mother's cat in a hummer whilst playing gangster rap! What FIFA is actually doing is holding to the line that stops Israel celebrating the 1967 land grab, or Iran commemorating its losses in the last thirty years. Or actually more comparatively, it stops there being a Comic Relief shirt, or a Children In Need one.. or some other charity. Because in our latter day tyranny where one gets stared down if one doesn't wear a poppy, we have forgotten that the Poppy campaign is just that. It is a charity fundraiser. I am not saying that the British Legion is not worthy of ra...
Post a Comment
Read more

Halloween Madness (but not as you might think)

I went shopping today with my family (dad, mum and niece). As is traditional in the family Smith, first stop was for a quick coffee before hitting the stores. Was just about to wander to a comfy seat with my latte when a suitably rotund witch acosted me and my niece to ask if we wanted to do the Halloween Ghost hunt. Now as you can imagine I don't really go for halloween, and was slightly offended that John Lewis (surely a bastion of demure Englishness) had bought into the loveless Americafest of Halloween. However my niece was intrigued by the lure of the lucky dip if she were to find the twelve ghosts hidden in twelve 'never knowingly undersold' departments. So after coffee the quest began.. the first one in childrenswear was easily found, but thats where the error was. We should have just stopped at that point. But no! It got into our little heads (well me mum and dad's) that we should now get all twelve. How hard could it be? So, we split up (tactics fol...
Post a Comment
Read more