Bush, Always The Statesman
A typically unseemly spectacle was occasioned by George W. Bush -- in Hanoi -- expounding on the "lessons" learned by the United States from the Vietnam War.
Comparing America's defeat in Southeast Asia to the misadventure in Iraq, Bush stated that we now understand that "We'll succeed unless we quit."
I can only imagine what Bush's Vietnamese hosts were thinking, knowing from their experience that the president was completely full of shit.
Beyond asserting a questionable premise, W's lack of diplomatic savoir-faire left something to be desired.
It was as if the Japanese Prime Minister was to visit Washington and convey his nation's regrets that they hadn't replicated their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on other strategic U.S. targets, or mention that Tokyo should have defended the home islands better in the final months of the war.
Comparing America's defeat in Southeast Asia to the misadventure in Iraq, Bush stated that we now understand that "We'll succeed unless we quit."
I can only imagine what Bush's Vietnamese hosts were thinking, knowing from their experience that the president was completely full of shit.
Beyond asserting a questionable premise, W's lack of diplomatic savoir-faire left something to be desired.
It was as if the Japanese Prime Minister was to visit Washington and convey his nation's regrets that they hadn't replicated their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on other strategic U.S. targets, or mention that Tokyo should have defended the home islands better in the final months of the war.
posted by Effwit at 10:11 AM
4 Comments:
Nicely put, Effwit. I had just posted on the Vietnam visit (a snide little thing, not nearly as thought-provoking as yours) when I found this one on Technorati. It made me think some more, so I posted again, this time using your post as a foundation. I hope you don't mind that I linked to your post from mine. Thanks for a great post!
Effluent:
Thanks.
I do not mind a bit. Good luck with your blog.
Rambo echoed many a schizoid pundit when he said we could have won VietNam if only we had the will. Fundamentalists of many a faith 'r oft heard that saying that if only we lived diligently enough by the teachings of some God and his prophet then all would be good, prosperous, rectified, and happy...
If only, if only, if only...
Emmy:
The recurring theme sounded by the gooper punditocracy is that had the Democratic-controlled Congress not cut off funding for the war, we would have inevitably succeeded.
The old "we never lost a battle" crowd.
Sheer delusion on their part. Ho (or Giap, I cannot recall) famously said that the Vietnamese people are not going anywhere, and are willing to fight the Americans for 50 or 100 years, if necessary.
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