Iraq - Tet Connection article.
There is hope though:
When Tet happened in 1968, it is true, the media and Cronkite went anti-war.
But Nixon stayed in there with the "Vietnamization strategy" for 4 years, and effectively brought the North Vietnamese to heel. It was only the fall of Nixon and the 1974 elections that brought us to the point of abandoning South Vietnam.
In Iraq we have had the "Tet" offensive since February, when the Golden Mosque bombing dealt a blow to Sunni Shiite comity and the death squads and Mahdi army got active.
The insurgency at the time was getting squeezed and Iraqi army training was finally starting to pay off.
From February to October, the Iraqi sectarian violence has been the driver of instability. Shiite armed groups have taken things into their own hands and the Sunni response has been to retreat to sectarianism and support of further insurgent violence. The only way to keep a clamp on it was to bring in US forces heavily in areas; it pacifies the small area, but leaves our forces exposed (hence higher death tolls) and doesnt solve the wider problem. The Iraqi army can do some good, but only so much. And Iraqi police is accused of being in cahoots with the death squads.
Democracy is supposed to be about replacing bullets with ballots, but the forces in Iraq refuse to play by those rules.
The successful way out - which I hope new DoD Secty Gate will pursue - is the same one that Nixon pursued... get Iraqis to defend themselves, with focus on traning and support.
They are going to hit multiple cities with dirty bombs not nukes. The nukes come in a few years when Iran gets them.
They are going to hit multiple cities with dirty bombs not nukes. The nukes come in a few years when Iran gets them.
It is so sad to think that a pledge from the American people is only good for 4 years at most.
bttt