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America Should Not Abandon Iraq
By Gary Palmer
Posted on: December 7, 2005
In many respects, America is still dealing with the decade of the 70's. The 70's were the years of America's second great depression. But not so much in the economic and financial sense, as in the Great Depression of the 1930's, but more in the sense of a loss of national confidence.
The 1970's was the decade of doubt. Doubt about our culture, our political system, our economy, our military, and our place in the world. By the end of the 1970's America was in what President Carter called a state of malaise.
In terms of impact on the culture, it was the decade of no-fault divorce, abortion and the sexual revolution which resulted in an unprecedented rise in divorces, millions of children growing up in broken families and the deaths of over 46 million unborn children. The 70's also witnessed an unprecedented increase in sexually transmitted diseases. The first cases of AIDS were diagnosed in New York City in 1977.
Politically the decade was defined by scandal beginning with the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew over charges of tax evasion. Agnew's resignation was followed by Watergate, and in 1974 Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office.
The 70's economy was hammered by the Arab oil embargo resulting in gasoline rationing, long lines at gas stations, skyrocketing prices, and a speed limit of 55. By the end of the decade the U.S. economy was faced with massive unemployment, double-digit inflation and interest rates that topped 20 percent. To add to our energy woes, radical environmentalists began to impact energy policy.
Radical Islamic religious based terrorism became an American concern during 1970's in the form of bombings, hostage taking, more than 20 European and American airline hijackings, and most notably in 1979, the taking of 66 American hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran. The Iran Hostage Crisis began after Ayatollah Khomeini, a radical Islamic cleric, took control of the government of Iran.
It is also noteworthy that in 1979 Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq and Syria began its occupation of Lebanon when they intervened in the Lebanese civil war.
Perhaps as much as anything, the 1970's was defined by America's humiliating withdrawal from Vietnam.
Militarily the U.S. was not defeated. The liberal media pressure resulted in the U.S. ceasing its bombing of North Vietnam just as they were about to give up. American military forces were withdrawn in 1973 and the South Vietnamese were left to fend for themselves. Within two years Congress voted to cut off funding for South Vietnam. Without U.S. backing, South Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1975.
The North Vietnamese could not have conquered South Vietnam if the United States had not lost the will to fight. The North Vietnamese were given a victory by anti-war liberals in the American media, by liberal politicians, and liberal faculty in American universities, many of whom were ardent socialists.
The American media relentlessly attacked American policy in Vietnam. Every mistake was magnified, every decision questioned. American soldiers were portrayed as doped up barbarians that ravaged the South Vietnamese, wantonly killing innocent civilians, destroying property, and raping and pillaging in a manner reminiscent of Ghengis Khan. At least that is what John Kerry told a U.S. Senate committee.
Why this regurgitation of all these bad memories? Because I think those of us old enough to remember need to be reminded of how we felt about the country. We need to be reminded because we are heading in the same direction; history could be on the verge of repeating itself.
Today our efforts in the war in Iraq are being undermined by liberals just like they were 30 years ago in Vietnam. And it is not a case of the war going badly. This anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-American military mantra started almost the day we attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan. Within weeks liberals in the news media were calling our war in Afghanistan a quagmire and comparing it to Vietnam. Now that we have succeeded in Afghanistan, liberals have made Iraq the next Vietnam.
But Iraq is not like Vietnam. This is not a regional conflict; it is a worldwide fight that we cannot abandon. Being pressured out of Iraq because the left-wing media and their friends and allies in Congress successfully undermined the public's will to fight and its will to sacrifice will have grave consequences, consequences much worse than after abandoning South Vietnam.
The terrorist thugs understand what is happening. In an intercepted email, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader behind much of the murder in Iraq, is optimistic that America will be driven out of Iraq much like we were from Vietnam. He wrote, "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam-and how they ran and left their agents-is noteworthy."
If the media succeeds in getting the U.S. to abandon Iraq like we did South Vietnam, it will be viewed as a great victory for the terrorists and the aftermath will surely leave Americans in another state of malaise reminiscent of the 70's. Only this time the malaise will be coupled with fear.
Lieberman Hopeful on Iraq, November 30, 2005.
The Iraqi Constitution, September 8, 2005.
Islam Is not a Religion of Peace, August 23, 2005.
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