For some, defeat IS victory

Remember the mini-brouhaha the other day when President Bush spoke about completing the job in Iraq lest we have a recurrence of the disaster we faced after withdrawing from Vietnam in 1973? Democrats blasted the President for supposedly “being against Vietnam before he was for it” while their online sycophants sang chorus with “honesty, consistency and integrity have no meaning to George Bush”. Even a rudimentary perusal of the comments Bush made in 2004 and his speech to the VFW a couple of days ago shows this claim to be woefully ignorant. Context for these folks is irrelevant while soundbites, no matter how contrived, rule the day. This matter aside, however, it is very interesting to note a column that has surfaced online which harshly condemns antiwar Democrats for their antics that doomed Vietnam. As you read this, ask yourself who wrote these words?

This Congress was elected in November 1974, only months after Nixon’s resignation, and it was dominated by a fresh group of antiwar Democrats. One of the first actions of the new Congress was to vote down a supplemental appropriation for the beleaguered South Vietnamese that would have provided $800 million in military aid, including much-needed ammunition, spare parts and medical supplies.

This vote was a horrendous blow, in both emotional and practical terms, to the country that had trusted American judgment for more than a decade of intense conflict. It was also a clear indication that Washington was abandoning the South Vietnamese even as the North Vietnamese continued to enjoy the support of the Soviet Union, China and other Eastern bloc nations. The vote’s impact was hardly lost on North Vietnamese military planners, who began the final offensive only five weeks later, as the South Vietnamese were attempting to adjust their military defenses.

Finally, the aftermath of Saigon’s fall is rarely dealt with at all. A gruesome holocaust took place in Cambodia, the likes of which had not been seen since World War II. Two million Vietnamese fled their country — usually by boat — with untold thousands losing their lives in the process. This was the first such diaspora in Vietnam’s long and frequently tragic history. Inside Vietnam a million of the South’s best young leaders were sent to re-education camps; more than 50,000 perished while imprisoned, and others remained captives for as long as 18 years. An apartheid system was put into place that punished those who had been loyal to the United States, as well as their families, in matters of education, employment and housing. The Soviet Union made Vietnam a client state until its own demise, pumping billions of dollars into the country and keeping extensive naval and air bases at Cam Ranh Bay.

Figure it out yet? The author correctly places blame squarely where it belongs for the betrayal of our South Vietnamese allies and the condemnation of its people to tyranny and bloodshed: leftist Democrats. The only way Iraq and Vietnam may be similiar is the behavior of the very same party that 30 years ago and today believes victory lies in the defeat of our country.

So who wrote the above you may ask? Why Democrat James Webb, a veteran of the Vietnam War and now the Junior Senator from Virginia.

The seething by leftist Democrats over this article should be quite enjoyable as reaction to Webb’s comments start coming in.

(h/t The Corner)

— John (Average Gay Joe)