THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 114, June 2, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
IRAQ & VIETNAM -- A DANGEROUS COMPARISON:
NO QUICK & EASY FIX FOR THE PROBLEM IN IRAQ
By Christopher G. Adamo
FULL STORY: If Americans hope to avert a future of ongoing chaos and havoc
vastly exceeding the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
they must reject every erroneous premise of any easy escape from Iraq presently being advanced by Liberals in the media and on
Capitol Hill. The pursuit of some quick and painless “fix” will do nothing but set the stage for eventual catastrophe.
Worst among the flawed and dangerous Liberal arguments for abandoning the terror war is the notion that Iraq has degenerated
into “another Vietnam.” This supposition carries with it an underlying suggestion that the American presence there is pointless
and must therefore be rectified by simply cutting and running. However, a comparative history of the two conflicts proves
unequivocally that, as bad as was the result of America’s exit strategy in Southeast Asia, any similar action in Iraq would be an
absolute disaster.
Consider the situation as it unfolded during and after the Vietnam War.
America, engaged in the Cold War against Soviet expansionism, initially
resolved to pursue a policy of “containment,” which necessitated driving
back Communist insurgents whose goal was to secure the entire Southeast
Asian region. Unable to resolutely defeat the armies of Ho Chi Minh and his
often vaguely defined accomplices after the loss of more than fifty thousand
lives, American leaders decided that they would simply withdraw from the
region and leave the anti-Communist forces of South Vietnam to fend for
themselves. Although the ensuing slaughter was horrific, those on this side
of the Pacific Ocean remained chiefly insulated from it, and thus had the
luxury of indifference to the tragedy and genocide that followed the
American withdrawal.
On a wider scale, other events unfolded in a manner that prevented the
United States from ever feeling the full effects of its retreat in the face
of Communist aggression. Though at the peak of its military buildup and
expansionism, the Soviet Empire was nevertheless suffering from the internal
decay that would eventually bring it down. The menace of Soviet
technological dominance, so ominous in the 1950’s, had dissipated barely a
decade later when America reached the moon.
Once Soviet leaders recognized that they would never be able to militarily
or economically overtake the West, their “house of cards” quickly began to
collapse.
Even at the peak of its political dominance, the empty promises of Communism
were widely regarded with cynicism by the masses that fell under its shadow.
While unwilling to publicly oppose or criticize it for fear of reprisal, the
vast majority of its subjects held it, and its ideological advocates, in
extremely low regard.
So, despite an enormous military capability and multinational governing
structure, the Soviet threat rapidly imploded under its own weight, and less
than two decades after the fall of Saigon, was itself extinguished, along
with its widespread puppetry among nations of the Eastern Bloc.
Unfortunately, as a result of the stunning manner in which the nightmarish
specter of war with the Soviets seemingly vanished into thin air, too many
Americans have accepted the idea that problems of this enormity will always
somehow miraculously correct themselves. But such a rosy scenario does not
apply to the struggle in which America presently finds itself. The history
of militant Islam, measured not in years or decades but in centuries, paints
a far different picture.
In contrast to the empty promises of Marxism, which grew stale over the
course of only a few decades, Islam has endured for fourteen centuries. Its
European incursion alone lasted for three centuries.
Europe’s former steadfastness, rooted in its religious institutions, is no
longer sufficient to protect it from such an onslaught. Nor can Islamists be
expected to undergo a general fatiguing with the ways of violence and social
upheaval similar to that which eventually led to the downfall of Marxism.
Though the subjects of Communism were reluctant to enthusiastically offer
themselves as its devotees, such dedication is common in a religion and
political ideology that treats martyrdom as its ultimate measure of success.
Unlike the tired and disillusioned pawns of Marxism, the Islamist enemy will
zealously persevere. It has already waged war in America, and its “fifth
column” remains. If left unchecked, its next generation will take up the
cause (our eradication), with undiminished fervor.
Despite America’s “defeat” by North Vietnam, no one ever feared the
possibility of its troops marching into American cities to impose a new
order. However, the enemy we now face has every intention of someday doing so.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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