As most folks know Thomas Freidman of The NewYork Times is no Bush lover but what he is now writing about is what is now developing in Iraq. He making similarities between what is going on in Iraq to what happened in the battle for Hue City during the Tet Offensive 1968 in Vietnam One thing for sure political comments aside he knows his way round both the Middle East and he is very knowledgable about Vietnam Read his book for the info The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas Freidman Back to what he is saying and from what I have just seen on the news, he is accurate in comparing Iraq with the Tet Offensive. The questions I want to raise :- 1. How long has this got to go on in Iraq? 2. What is the answer to prevent this deteriorating situation escalating? 3. How are we going to win a Sniper War? Comments please :-
In terms of the propoganda coming out of Iraq, I think its pretty similar. I think media reaction to Iraq is very similar (if not identical) to the reaction of the Tet offensive.
Quote from TBRNews Washington, D.C., 2006: “If the American public thinks the Foley cover-up was bad, wait until the latest gigantic military cover-up erupts. Here we have a major military disaster in Iraq of incomprehensible magnitude that has been shut off and hidden away by the Pentagon and the White House. If this comes out before the elections, and it will, look for the Republicans to lose both the Senate and the House and both Bush and Rumsfeld to lose their political heads. In looking over the paperwork on this, it is not possible to believe that after the Foley scandal our Beloved Leaders and Protectors could be so bloody damned stupid but they obviously are. Your Brian Harring is about to light a fuse that will cause more damage than the major event he is writing about. We can all save our outrage until the 20th next. We will probably need it. “ http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2542.htm
I love reading Thomas Friedman's pieces. He was iniitially for the attack on Iraq. He was not quick to ultimately disagree and even recently he has written pieces on salvaging the American status there. On the other hand he is deeply discouraged by the Administration's actions on Iraq over the course of this war. In a quick public response to a question from the Press Bush acknowledged a similarity with the political impact of the Tet offensive. As to how this plays out....time will tell.
I think plans will be announced to start withdrawing, one way or another, after the Iraq Study Group gives its recommendations, after the November elections. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec06/iraq_10-12.html
The only similarities between Vietnam and Iraq are the moonbats that say there are similarities between Vietnam and Iraq.
“What’s the difference between Vietnam and Iraq? The difference is that President Bush had a plan to get out of Vietnamâ€