The Right State

Thomas Friedman writing a op-ed in the New York Times compared the current war in Iraq to the Tet Offensive. For the record I think he is right. All the parallels are there. The only problem is that so many people do not understand the Tet Offensive. This is a battle the US did not lose.

The Tet offensive was launched by the North Vietnanese Army (NVA) in 1968 in an attempt to catch the US and the South Vietnamese off-guard. Instead of a glorious victory as they had hoped, the NVA lost and lost big-time. The MSM, led by Walter Cronkite, saw the ferocity of the attacks and declared that the war was not winnable. In published memoirs by NVA generals, North Vietnam were ready to capitulate and sue for peace. The NVA stuck with the war only because of the American media who had already given up. Wikipedia says this about tet:

The Tết Offensive can be considered a crushing military defeat for the Communist forces, as neither the Viet Cong nor the North Vietnamese army achieved any of their tactical goals. Furthermore, the operational cost of the offensive was dangerously high, with the Viet Cong essentially crippled by the huge losses inflicted by South Vietnamese and other Allied forces. Nevertheless, the Offensive is widely considered a turning point of the war in Vietnam, with the NLF and PAVN winning an enormous psychological and propaganda victory. Although US public opinion polls continued to show a majority supporting involvement in the war, this support continued to deteriorate and the nation became increasingly polarized over the war.[1] President Lyndon Johnson saw his popularity fall sharply after the Offensive, and he withdrew as a candidate for re-election in March of 1968. The Tết Offensive is frequently seen as an example of the value of propaganda, media influence and popular opinion in the pursuit of military objectives.

Lets jump ahead thirty-eight years to 2006. The US launched a war into Iraq to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction and remove a dictator who defied UN resolutions and supported terrorists around the world. After removing Saddam Hussein from power, terrorists have poured into Iraq from neighboring countries to bolster the faltering insurgent attacks. As suicide attacks have killed both soldiers and civilians alike, the MSM have taken this occasion to switch sides and support those who are killing our soldiers. The media have declared this war all but winnable. There is no way for the terrorists or ‘insurgents’ to beat the United States military. The terrorists are losing and losing big-time, but the MSM in a move that can only be described as traitorous is supporting enemies of the United States. The American public led on by the treacherous media has been slowly turning against this war.

There is no doubt the war is polarizing the country. Most Americans either support the war, or they are against it. Very few are ambivalent. As such the President is losing support. He is given little credit for trying to beat back the terrorists and defend the United States of America from further terrorist attacks.

In an interview on ABC, President Bush said Friedman was right, but only as far as how the terrorists are trying to influence an election. Of course I would also add the parallel also extends to how the MSM is treating the war.

U.S. President George W. Bush says he sees a possible parallel in the increase in violence in Iraq and the 1968 Tet offensive that prompted Americans to lose support for the Vietnam War.

But the White House on Thursday said the president had not been making the analogy that Iraq had reached a similar turning point. Instead, he was saying that insurgents were possibly increasing violence to try to influence coming U.S. elections. (snip)

“Look, here’s how I view it,” Bush said. “First of all, al Qaeda is still very active in Iraq. They are dangerous. They are lethal. They are trying to not only kill American troops, but they’re trying to foment sectarian violence.

“They believe that if they can create enough chaos, the American people will grow sick and tired of the Iraqi effort and will cause government to withdraw,” he said.

President Bush is absolutely correct. There are three distinct parallels between the Vietnam War and this War in Iraq: the reporting by the MSM and the efforts our enemies to influence an election.

The third parallel are the actions of the cut-and-run crowd. In the liberal blogosphere there is a chorus of voices actually hoping the US loses in Iraq. They have even found their very own Ho Chi Minh in the person of Osama bin Laden. The only thing not found in the news is another Jane Fonda posing with al-Qaeda members as they shoot at our soldiers.

For some reason the MSM are portraying George Bush’s comments as saying the US can not win in Iraq, which is not what he said. He was discussing the actions of the foreign terrorists in Iraq. Bush should have included the treacherous actions of the MSM in both this war and the Vietnam War in his discussion on ABC.

There certainly are parallels between the Vietnam War and this War in Iraq. But most noteworthy are the actions by the msm and liberals which constitute a fifth column in both wars. Forgotten in this discussion of the War in Iraq and the War on Terror in general is the fact that we must win this war to be safe from terrorist attacks. It would really be nice if the MSM could finally chose the right side and support both the United States and our troops as they combat terrorists.

Tags: TV, President Bush, Bias //