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On 23 Jun 2006 10:40:36 -0700, wrote:

This may be opening a can or worms but when we (mostly)
left Vietnam we HAD won. There was a treaty in place
recognizing a South Vietnamese 'line of control' if not
complete sovreignity.

South Vietnam was snuffed out by an armored assault that could have
been planned by Erwin Romel. It was a blatant violation of a treaty
obligation. We ignored it.

Just like we ignored the genocide in Cambodia.

So much for "never again!", eh? :-(

Where has any official policy been annunciated at any time which
indicated an intent to establish "Permanent bases in Iraq"?

I haven't heard one way or the other, have you?

The chances of permant bases in Iraq are comparable to those of a
snowball on a Bagdad streecorner at noon in July.

Besides, we don't need them.

But I don't recall any previous time when what was presented as a
quick campaign became a six year plus war.

While the ACW and WWI were not six years long,they were planned as
"quick campaigns." WWII did go about six years and it, too, was
planned as a "short, victorious war" by its instigators. Many
aphorisms come to mind on that type of plan.

Now that we are comitted in Iraq we can make the situation even
worse than it is now by a hasty withdrawal. But the fact is that
Iraqis will fight us as long as we are there. We have to leave in
order to win.

Some will fight us, others will help us. The picture is not clear.

I sometimes get pessimistic about an ultimate success because of what
I heard from a educated Afghani on the radio a few mornings back. He
was very enthusiastic about "liberty" for Afghanistan, but insisted it
be "Islamic liberty." He was highly critical of "Western liberty."
This is discouraging because "liberty" is liberty. It means what it
says. As soon as you attach an adjective you don't have "liberty"
anymore. I'm not sure what you do have, but I know what you don't
have.

It's gonna be a while before the Fat Lady sings, here.

Bill Kambic
Haras Lucero, Kingston, TN
Mangalarga Marchador: Uma Raça, Uma Paixão