Analysis on autopilot
James Robbins:
"It was a seven-year struggle against diehard indigenous guerrillas, a controversial war that helped bring down a Democratic president, a hard-fought jungle conflict in which both sides committed atrocities, and the sentiments of the domestic peace movement were echoed by disenchanted soldiers longing for nothing more than a ticket back to the world. Yeah, you guessed it: I'm referring to the Second Seminole War. Every day I watch the coverage of events and Iraq and pray that the United States has not gotten itself into another Florida.
". . .A Vietnam story is a form of analytical autopilot, usually negative, almost always misguided. Nevertheless, recent comparisons of the Ramadan bombings in Iraq to the Tet Offensive are strangely apt. Not just because the attacks also began on a holiday, but because they have engaged the media's Tet-response mechanism.
". . .The Vietnamization of the storyline kicked into high gear when the president stated that the recent rash of attacks in Iraq were a sign of desperation, which struck some as a kind of Johnson-era doublespeak. But the president's statement recognizes a fact that is often overlooked when analyzing terrorist incidents — that terrorism is a weapon of the weak. If the terrorists could wage guerrilla war, conventional war, or anything more substantial, they would. If they are reduced to suicide car bombings and assassinations, they are on a downward spiral. Their strategic straits become more evident when you look at the current target groups. . ."
James Robbins:
"It was a seven-year struggle against diehard indigenous guerrillas, a controversial war that helped bring down a Democratic president, a hard-fought jungle conflict in which both sides committed atrocities, and the sentiments of the domestic peace movement were echoed by disenchanted soldiers longing for nothing more than a ticket back to the world. Yeah, you guessed it: I'm referring to the Second Seminole War. Every day I watch the coverage of events and Iraq and pray that the United States has not gotten itself into another Florida.
". . .A Vietnam story is a form of analytical autopilot, usually negative, almost always misguided. Nevertheless, recent comparisons of the Ramadan bombings in Iraq to the Tet Offensive are strangely apt. Not just because the attacks also began on a holiday, but because they have engaged the media's Tet-response mechanism.
". . .The Vietnamization of the storyline kicked into high gear when the president stated that the recent rash of attacks in Iraq were a sign of desperation, which struck some as a kind of Johnson-era doublespeak. But the president's statement recognizes a fact that is often overlooked when analyzing terrorist incidents — that terrorism is a weapon of the weak. If the terrorists could wage guerrilla war, conventional war, or anything more substantial, they would. If they are reduced to suicide car bombings and assassinations, they are on a downward spiral. Their strategic straits become more evident when you look at the current target groups. . ."
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