EQ 9: MA=D and I = V = A

Dear Friends,

In this equation, MA = military advisors, D = disaster, I = Iraq, V = Vietnam and A=Afghanistan.

When I heard today that President Obama had decided to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq, all I could think about was that President Kennedy started our involvement in Vietnam with military advisors.  In May 1961, President Kennedy sent 500 military advisor, by the end of 1962 the number was 11,500 and by the end of 1963 it was 16,000.  We all know how the Vietnam war worked out for Americans, Vietnamese and the world.  We certainly do not want that again.

The United States has demonstrated over and over again that it is incapable of solving all the world's problems and particularly the problems of a countries like Vietnam and Iraq where we lack the basic knowledge of the people and culture.  We need to stay out of this fight except to keep our own personnel safe and the best way to do that is to evacuate them.

I can only hope that we will learn from this problem in Iraq and apply the lessons to Afghanistan.  The right course there is to get out asap.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal