Defending Independence

[VIETNAM 1968]

When the prospect of hostilities in Iraq became a very real possibility, I predicted that if the upcoming War, and subsequent Occupation, of Iraq were to go on for an extended length of time; Most Americans would lose the strong desire to see the conflict through to it's conclusion.

In fact, I even compared it to Vietnam. Some of my acquaintances just laughed and stated that Vietnam and Iraq were like Apples and Oranges. The two could not be compared in any way. Well hindsight is now starting to prove me correct.

Some Americans have long forgotten just what forced us to engage in hostilities in Iraq in the first place. In the beginning, most everyone supported our decision to engage Iraq in armed conflict. As time went on however, some Americans started to become disenchanted and questioned just why we ever became involved in hostilities with Iraq in the first place.

For those of us that were old enough to remember the start of the Vietnam conflict and participated in it directly; The feelings of the majority of Americans supported our involvement. As time went on however, the few opposed to the War were able to sway most Americans to their type of thinking. As a result the Vietnam War lost most public support and we Servicemen then became the brunt of their dissatisfaction. With enough public support against our involvement, the United States Government was then forced to end that direct involvement. As a result the South Vietnamese Government finally could not carry on the War effort themselves and Vietnam then fell to Communist control.

I believe that History just might REPEAT ITSELF, if the United States does not find a way to quickly disengage itself from Iraq. Public support will continue to erode and we will then be forced to abandon all that we attempted to accomplish in that country as well. The very forces that we attempted to ouster will then be free to reestablish control and Iraq will then revert back to just what we were attempting to prevent in the first place.

The last time the American People were willing to support a long conflict was World War II. Then we had a determination to see the war through to it's logical conclusion, regardless of the time it took to win. Now, all the majority of Americans are willing to endure are swift conflicts that quickly result in victory. If the cost of that victory then becomes too high, and the time required to achieve the goal, becomes too long, the vocal minority are then able to sway the majority of other Americans to their way of thinking.


To all my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I want to state:


WELCOME HOME:


Vietnam 1968