Ken Burns War and Iraq

Hutchinson News ^ | 9/27/07 | Jalexson

[kathsua]

Watching the series helps put the current conflict in Iraq in perspective. Many are concerned about the occasional bombings and explosions of IED's, but these threats don't compare to what our fathers or grandfathers faced in WWII.

Soldiers in WWII died by the hundreds or thousands rather than the few deaths at a time in Iraq. Soldiers in WWII were threatened by huge artillery shells and bombing by enemy aircraft. They faced thousands of enemy soldiers at a time rather than maybe a dozen or perhaps as much as a hundred.

For those serving in Iraq, the fact that they have a greater chance of survival than soldiers in WWII doesn't lessen the concern that there is still a chance they won't survive. They can never be sure that the vehicle they are in will not be destroyed when it passes by what looks like a rock or some trash along side the road.

The enemy in WWII wore uniforms. The enemy in Iraq is so weak its soldiers must dress like everyone else to avoid detection.

If I were a young man who had to go to war and could choose the foe, I would prefer the fight al Qaeda than the North Vietnamese and the North Vietnamese than the Japanese. We forced both the North Vietnamese and the Japanese to sign peace agreements, although the North Vietnamese later violated their agreement.

Our soldiers in Iraq can keep al Qaeda from taking over in Iraq if we don't give up.

There are a billion Muslims in the world. Osama bin Laden is convinced he can unite a substantial number of them under his leadership to fight us. If we surrender Iraq to him, he will have a much better chance of doing that. Do we want to risk having to fight an army bigger than the combined armies of WWII Germany and Japan?

[The Great RJ]

The difference between WW-II and today is that the anti-war pacifist crowd has gone from being a kook fringe to the mainstream of the Democratic party.