No Checks, No Balance

As we consider the latest Bush/Iraq war foray, an editorial in today's Philadelphia Inquirer by former Pa representative Bob Edgar reminds us to remember history, in History always teaches, but not everyone learns:

Three decades appears to be long enough to forget a few things, at least for President Bush and those who've been advising him on waging war in Iraq. However, the memory of being a freshman member of Congress standing to begin a floor debate over sending more troops to Vietnam will be forever with me.

It was April 22, 1975. President Gerald R. Ford had proposed a way to help us get out of Vietnam more quickly. He wanted hundreds of millions of dollars for something called the Vietnam Humanitarian Assistance and Evacuation Act of 1975. My recollection is that the administration wanted to send 20,000 more ground troops to secure Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam.

It was a proposal many members of the House of Representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, would not approve. One of my colleagues said he didn't "want 40,000 or 50,000 American troops going back into Vietnam to take out 100,000, 500,000, a million South Vietnamese. That can happen under this bill."

* * * *

Fast-forward 32 years. We are hearing the same talk. We are hearing the same reasoning that more troops will help us get out of a war thousands of miles away.

We have just seen a new Congress sworn in. Many say voters spoke loudly last November against the status quo. In 1975, the 49 of us were called "Watergate babies," referring to the crimes that brought down the Nixon administration. Voters then were tired of being lied to, and wanted desperately to get our troops home from the war in Southeast Asia.

The architects of the waning days of the Vietnam War are many of the same planners who pushed our troops into the current war in Iraq. Apparently history has taught them nothing.

For more history lessons, Will Bunch of Attytood goes back a little bit further. Bunch recalls LBJ's State of Union Address and provides a comparison with excerpts from Bush's speech, in It was 40 years ago today. As you read the words, be careful to note which is speaking; otherwise, you might not be able to distinguish which is which.

And last but not least, even before the speech, from the lunch crowd at the local mall, Many await Bush plan with doubts:

If the lunch crowd at a suburban mall is any indication, Bush tonight will be addressing a thoughtful, conflicted electorate largely unimpressed with his leadership ability. They're ready to give Iraqis more responsibility for maintaining order in their country, but disagree about whether more troops will get the United States out faster or just expose more young people to danger. Some want the administration to put more effort into problems at home. And many are seeing the specter of Vietnam.

According to a USA Today/Gallup poll yesterday, 61 percent of those surveyed oppose any plan to increase troops.

As one person who was interviewed (and happens to be a friend) said:

Gary Bragg, a 58-year-old Plymouth Meeting lawyer and veteran, agreed. "There are so many parallels, including getting in deeper thinking that just a few more bodies will turn the tide," he said. "I think it's so much bigger than 20,000 troops or whatever the U.S. could supply."

* * * *

While Bragg wants the United States to leave Iraq - "with a plan" - he's not so quick to blame Iraqis for their woes. "It's a real dilemma," he said, "and I almost cringe every time I hear the politicians say Iraqis have got to defend themselves... . I say, 'Wait a minute. We're the ones that put them in this position.' "

You go, Gary!!

(Photo of Rumsfeld, Cheney & Ford, circa April 1975, from Ford Presidential Library)

Tags: Bush, Iraq