Repeatedly increasing troop strength in Vietnam did not result in success. It will not lead to an American victory in Iraq. In Vietnam we opposed Vietnamese people seeking self-determination. In Iraq we are involved in sectarian violence between two branches of the Islamic religion, the Sunnis and the Shiites, who have been opposing each other for 1,400 years. President Bush explains his invasion of Iraq as a fight against terrorism. The only terrorist in Iraq was Saddam Hussein, who simply terrorized his own people. There is no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with the terrorist attack against the U.S. or any other country. Bush, in a state of denial and fearing failure, refers to our not winning or losing in Iraq and a vague mission, with no end in sight.
Evidently Bush wishes to end his term as president and blame the collapse of the government in Iraq on whoever is the president in 2008. With the death of nearly 3,000 American soldiers in Iraq, the time has come to stop patrols and fall back to defensive positions, leaving the Iraqis to settle their own differences.
