Weighing the ‘Vietnam Argument’ in Iraq

From Avigdor Haselkorn (“Jihadis View Iraq as the Place to Slay the Great Satan,” Commentary, Aug. 20): “If the U.S. forces were to retreat now, the perception that the U.S. is nothing more than a paper tiger unable to sustain casualties would prove itself.” The Vietnam argument all over again. If we went to war to remove Saddam Hussein, we should have started to leave the day the statue fell, at the height of our success. Will we leave 10 years from now, having sustained many casualties and ruinous expenses?

The “war on terror” cannot be won in an absolute sense. Can Israel, with military superiority, stop the Palestinians? We cannot hope to stay in Iraq without being the subject of continuing attack both there and at home.

Royce D. Stauffer

Carpinteria

*

Terrorism in Iraq is now thriving, courtesy of the chaos brought about by an ill-planned, ill-conceived war, sold by liars for oil profits and the resulting prodigious corporate welfare for their associates in the weapons manufacturing and oil-service industries. The Bush administration, motivated by greed and power, gives not a flying damn for the Iraqi people; the propaganda about human rights and democracy by this group of manipulative “neoconmen” on their knees to Mammon is blatant hypocrisy. It’s five months since the war started, and everything that the protesters warned about has come true. Let us all hope that worse is not to come.

Nik Green

Isla Vista

*

Re “Tragic Tests of U.S. Resolve,” editorial, Aug. 20: The first sentence of the editorial demonstrates that The Times is not the vox populi and is sorely out of touch with us common folk. The conversation around the office water cooler and on the bus is about support for our troops coupled with a loud thankful sigh of relief that the fighting is taking place in Iraq rather than in Illinois. Bus! When was the last time anyone at The Times rode a bus?

The U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. We are at war. If you want to give up, go to France.

John L. Wiggins

Rancho Santa Margarita

*

We opened up a can of worms when we invaded Iraq. I blame the Bush administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for every injury and death. I never thought they would go against the United Nations, but they did. I wake up every day wishing it hadn’t happened -- but it has. This is a travesty!

Larry Bakos

Encino

*

Re “Thunder of ’68 Rumbles Onward,” Commentary, Aug. 18: As a card-carrying member of the 1960s and a disabled veteran, I can truly say that drawing parallels to what happened in Prague and anything today is historically and politically over the top. Get real! Czechoslovakian Communist Party chief Alexander Dubcek was a true hero, and the brutal Soviet repression of Czechoslovakia in 1968 has nothing to do with what’s happening in the Middle East or anywhere else.

Mark Kurlansky’s “bully” metaphor for the U.S. is tiresomely inaccurate. For the last 30 years, Americans and Westerners have been murdered by terrorists and governments that supported them. We did very little during those decades, and that brought on the horrible murders of some 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Instead of a misguided hypothesis and a charge of playground “bullying,” can Kurlansky say “self-defense”? Dubcek, sadly, did not have that option. We do.

Johnny M. Smith

Chula Vista