The Party of Defeat

To paraphrase John Kerry, we won Viet Nam before we lost it. By the time that we pulled out we had established a stable government in South Viet Nam that was able to defend itself with modest arms and financial support from the US. If we had kept up funding and support and had attempted to get the USSR to abide by restrictions in support then South Viet Nam would still be here and we would be considering it a costly victory, much like Korea

Instead, in 1975, congressional Democrats pulled all support for South Viet Nam and made it clear that no new help would be forthcoming. North Viet Nam invaded and overran the south.

Several leading Democrats want to speed this timetable up in Iraq and go straight to the abandonment phase. It started when the previously-unknown John Murtha called for an immediate pull-out (technically a six month pull-out to start immediately). Last week House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi signed on. Democratic National committee leader Howard Dean made a similar endorsement.

What they are saying is that the strongest nation in the world with a force of 150,000 cannot win against a determined insurgency of 10,000.

This is a self-fulfilling prophesy. We cannot win if we believe that we have already lost. Worse, the other side will not give up if they hear us saying that we cannot win.

The Democrats are in damage control over Dean's comments. The current story is that they were taken out of context. Listen for yourself. There is a recording of the interview here. I listened to it and I clearly heard Dean call for an immediate pullout of 80,000 reservists. He also wants 20,000 regular troops moved to Afghanistan and the remainder moved to a friendly country where they can deal with Zarqawi. (How they will deal with him while he is in Iraq is only one of many questions.)

Is this mean anti-Bush posturing or do Dean and the others really mean it? One clue is the group Code Pink. They have not only been after President Bush, they also try to shout down Hillary Clinton. This group is also affiliated with Cindy Sheehan. Pictures of Howard Dean holding Code Pink T-shirts in each hand have appeared on their web site implying that he supports their agenda. Dean is so supportive of the anti-war movement that he supports them as they attack the Democrats' front-runner for the White House.

What would happen if we do declare defeat and slink home? Michael Moore suggested that we do just that and "live with our shame".

It is the Iraqis who would do the dying, at least at first. There is little doubt that a full-scale civil war would break out.

Worse, if we lose this war it will be a century before we win another one. We pulled out of Viet Man over 30 years ago and it is still being given as an excuse to cut and run.

This has global ramifications. During the 1990s we did the heavy lifting in peace-keeping missions. A lot of countries expect us to protect them from aggressive neighbors. If they decide that we are undependable then they might re-arm. This would not help world stability.

Then there is the terrorist threat. Bin Lauden said that they struck us at home because they thought we were weak. If we prove them right they will strike here again and again.

Can we win in Iraq? Polls taken in Iraq show that they think so. So does the military. This not only shows up in polls but in the re-enlistment rate which has been above goals for some time. Why would someone who has been in Iraq go back unless he thinks that we are winning?

When the war first started a number of people on the far left said that it was important for the US to lose. They consider the US (not just Bush but the United States in general) to be the biggest threat to world peace and a loss will make us less likely to attack anyone else.

This attitude used to be confined to the fringe elements but it is now infecting top Democrats.

And they wonder why we don't trust them to defend the country?

UPDATE: Here is a link to the picure of Dean with the tshirts and an account of Code Pink protesting Hillary.