IS THE MIDDLE EAST ANOTHER VIET NAM?

During the Viet Nam war, it was reported that President Johnson was directing the conduct of the war from Washington. What this meant is that a president with a political agenda was running the conduct of the war instead of the military. Similar to what happened during the Korean conflict, the political restrictions put on the US military prevented them from winning the war. One of the main restrictions in Viet Nam was that President Johnson granted the enemy sanctuary in Cambodia, Laos and for part of the time in North Vietnam. When President Nixon made another political decision to pull all of our troops out of Viet Nam, the collateral human damage was huge as many South Vietnamese were killed as the Viet Cong took over Viet Nam. Presidents have a terrible disease that causes them to think they are all knowing and are always right. Presidents who do not listen to their military generally make a mess out of any military intervention. The Korean conflict stalemate and the Viet Nam War loss provide the proof. When Presidents leave the conduct of a war to the military such as World War II and Desert Storm, we have won. The principle here is that if a nation is going to get involved in a military conflict, it must fight to win or stay out of the conflict.

 

President Obama is making the same mistake that previous Presidents have made, but maybe different only in that he may have delegated the micro management of the military to someone else. This person or persons worry only about political consequences of military action—not if we are effectively dealing with the enemy. ISIS hides behind the civilian population because politically they know that the United States worries about collateral damage. Much like the Viet Cong, ISIS does not care about civilian casualties. For the US military to send out planes to make airstrikes and return without firing their munitions is completely irresponsible and a waste of manpower, equipment and money. Much like Johnson allowed the Viet Cong sanctuary in Cambodia and Laos, the Obama administration essentially is giving ISIS sanctuary in Syria. A couple of drone strikes mean nothing.

 

The ISIS capital is Raqqa, Syria. It is time to fight the war there instead of giving ISIS more time to incite domestic terrorism here in the United States. Oh yes, it looks like we are on the losing side of the social media battle also. The Obama administration timidly uses the military to agitate ISIS with a couple drone strikes. Now if the military started 24 hour intermittent bombardment of Raqqa using smart bombs for as long it remains their capital, it will slowly but surely degrade the city. Recognizing what is happening, the civilians and terrorists would start to sneak out of the city. During this time, without Washington intervention, the air force would monitor all the roads into and out of Raqqa and destroy all military vehicles. If continued long enough, the bombing will most likely destroy much of the city. The lesson that must be learned is that there is no sanctuary. When force is met with force, ISIS will have to adjust to this tactic. If ISIS moves its capital to another location, the procedure is repeated. If Assad gets his dander up, then let him know that Damascus could suffer the same fate if he interferes. As for our NATO ally Turkey which has indirectly assisted ISIS, they need to stay out of this.

 

Would the Obama administration do what I am suggesting? No way. Obama and his czars are only concerned about domestic politics and how they might transform the United States into another corrupt third world country. That is one action he seems to be winning.

 

Politics aside, our country would be better served by letting the US military attack ISIS and exterminate them. No prisons or Guantanamo for terrorists.

 

The Middle East is far more dangerous than Viet Nam was because Iran is located in the Middle East where they fund and sponsor terrorism. They also want nuclear weapons. Should Iran get nuclear weapons, if it hasn’t already got one, this situation will start a Middle East arms race that could lead to World War III. That would become Obama’s legacy much like World War II became Neville Chamberlain’s legacy. Who knows what will be left of civilization if we have World War III.

 

If our intelligence about Iran is as poor as it was before the Iraq war, then we know almost nothing about what Iran is doing. Since the Iranians are Muslim, their religion allows them to lie to infidels.  All the Western nation negotiators are infidels.

 

By the way, if a liquid fuel were to accidently be introduced into those underground Iranian nuclear sites and start flowing downward when a fire is started, it might do some damage. Similarly, if LPG which is heavier than air were introduced into those underground sites and detonated, the damage could be severe. In either case, if the air intake was shut down to suppress any fire, how would those facilities operate?

Ernie Kanak

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