Comparing Iraq, WWII and Vietnam

On Dec. 7, 1941, The Japanese navy and air force bombed the United States naval fleet in Pearl Harbor in a preemptive first strike, hoping to bring America to its knees and stop strangling Japanese international trade.

Three and one-half years later, Japan was in ruins and the American military declared victory. During that same period the U.S. joined European allies in wiping out Nazi Germany. Enough said.

Fast-forward to now. Look at the difference. It has been five years since 9-11 and three years since the U.S. ignored world opinion and invaded Iraq. No progress has been made to calming that region and protecting the world's oil supply, and world opinion has been turned against America.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the "second in command" to Osama bin Laden in the notorious al-Qaeda terrorist organization, said it best early in the war when he described the American military as stepping into a bear trap and that the U.S. "will bleed to death" in the deserts of Iraq.

That's exactly what is happening. We are bleeding to death. U.S. soldiers are getting mangled by IEDs and suicide bombers. Many other people, including civilians who have nothing to do with the war itself and who, in fact, side with the "insurgency," have been executed and beheaded, on videotape for the world to see.

Even the most toughened supporters of President Bush are starting to melt down. This war is a catastrophic disaster, much more so than Vietnam because at least in Vietnam, the U.S. has some measurable control over some of the countryside and stablilized that regime for nearly 11 years.

Not so here. Three "elections" have led to zero. This war is also many times more expensive than Vietnam could ever dream to be. When all the smoke clears and we finally bring troops back to home base, we will have spent more than a trillion dollars on this disaster.

That's our tax money, and many more billions to "rebuilding" Iraq that have been eaten up by Haliburton, Bechtel and other war profiteers. Yes, they have been paid. No, they have not rebuilt anything because the insurgency has blown it all to smithereens.

Not to mention tyhe atrocities at Abu Graib prison, showing the worst treatment of prisoners since the Holocaust.

What in hell is going on? How do we fix this?

Answers had better start coming, and come quick. Iran is developing nuclear weapons and is in a hell-bent mentality about it. The Iranian president is not an Islamic cleric, he's a seasoned revolutionary and double-smart individual who is getting cozy with Russia and China, doping his homework and building a foundation for the destruction of American influence in that region.

Bush visits India and Pakistan, but it's too little and too late. In the end, those countries will have to make amends with Iran to keep peace in the neighborhood. That leaves America holding the bag.

That leaves us holding the bag. A big, black, oily bag.

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