ITEM I: The re-living of the Vietnam War that has been thrust upon us by John F. Kerry (did you know he has 3 Purple Hearts?) may have a long overdue silver lining. First we were treated to the mythology that jfk (we'll use non-caps to distinguish him from the real JFK) was a war hero...note to jfk...real heroes don't talk too much about being heroic, they just do their jobs. This was Swift boatedly refuted when just about everyone he served with in 'Nam came forward to declare him "Unfit for Command." Then we had the Democrat counter-attack..."OK, you want to get our guy, well, we'll get yours!" The acme of this effort has produced the now famous forged documents. In between we have the Vietnam Veterans for Truth coming forward to point out that jfk's real legacy from Vietnam was what he did when he came back. He told lies, he called our soldiers in the fields horrible names, all of this for political gain (See www.freekerrybook.org if you need further evidence). And now the pattern fits together and there may be redemption for those brave men and women who did answer their country's call and fought in the rotting jungles of Vietnam:
- Kerry serves in the military then becomes the poster child for the anti-war movement. ("I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it.")
- CBS declares the war lost after US forces route the NVA during Tet. It was a whopper of a lie that even the NVA General Giap was stunned to hear.
- Kerry paints the picture that the military is full of sociopathic drug-addled killers.
- CBS does several documentaries including the appalling portrayal of the lives of six "Vietnam Vets" and their lives of drug abuse and crime. None of the six had ever gone near Vietnam.
- Kerry paints himself as the hero of the riverine war.
- The shine comes off the hero with the publication of "Unfit for Command" and the emergence of Vietnam Veterans for Truth.
- CBS goes on the attack to try to get at W in the hopes the contrast will inflate jfk. To do it, they procure forged documents (best case, they were duped and ready to believ the docs were real).
Here's the silver lining: CBS is completely and totally discredited. It follows a pattern and we can now discredit their 25 year portrayal of Vietnam. There is a re-examination occurring of what really happened in Vietnam and a long overdue salute to the men and women who stayed with their units and fought that ugly war.
Thank you, jfk, you have at long last, served your country well.
ITEM 2: Redstater's Dad has been poring over Mark Helprin's essay, " Let Us Count the WaysTo Win the War on Terrorism." It is available at www.claremont.com . It is an expansion of the article Helprin published in the Wall Street Journal last week (see "A Pox on Both Your Houses" below) but is a clear, concise call for a strategic reassessment of how to fight the war on terror. It is a bleak analysis for the prospects of converting Islamic states to democracy and persuasively argues for:
- A dramatic increase in military spending...we're at war dammit!
- A strategy of "strike, return, and re-energize" in lieu of "strike, occupy, convert." In the Iraqi model we would have overthrown Sadam and then retreated to secure bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Our parting words would be "set up a government we like or else..."
- Stronger immigration control including swift deportation of unfriendly aliens.
In the end he concludes: “It is all, finally, a matter of the possession of the failure of will. For if the whole power of the United States is adroitly focused upon this war, it is solely ours to win. We have the means to prevail. We need only count the ways.”
Helprin's strategy deserves serious consideration. In particular at a time when the Pentagon is exploring a major force realignment (for an interesting perspective see Tom Barnett's work : http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com ).
That's it for now Redstaters - have a great weekend!