We lost Vietnam, we can lose this one too!

Is there a large portion of America thinking that we can simply lose the GWOT?

I am starting to think that the thought process goes as follows:

We lost in Vietnam; we can lose in the Middle East!!!

This thinking can only be understood in terms of ignorance, racism, and anti-Americanism.

Ignorance, because it implies that the war is either not a war or that the war is won. Splitting hairs on where we fight is a sign of ignorance. We do not always define the battlefield - the enemy has a role in that decision. Our major battle now is in the region we call Iraq. I use that term because the most deadly enemy action is not of Iraqis for Iraqis. They are jihadists from foreign lands. In addition, simply because the casualties occur ‘over there’ – much like those on the USS Cole, the African Embassies, the Khobar Towers, the Beirut Marine Barracks, etc… - does not imply that we are not at wa,r nor that we have won. Folks, those casualties imply that we are at war. It’s just that we are fighting it now.

Racist because it implies that the enemy is incapable of causing us harm. This portion of the American citizenry fundamentally believes that these folks are too backward, too savage, and too barbaric to be a viable enemy. They do not respect the enemy, thus they inherently do not respect the people. At its most base, that is racism.

Anti-American because it implies that if the enemy is lucky enough to harm America it will be the ‘other’ that they harm. These people no longer assimilate in the American culture because they do not believe in the fundamentals of modern America. Post-Shock, while they morn the deaths of individuals, they do not morn the destruction of the World Trade Center and Pentagon. They do not morn the aggregate of those whose livelihood placed them in these structures – because as an aggregate, those people are the ‘Little Eichmans’ who oppress us.

They do not think that losing the GWOT will affect them negatively. Actually, losing this conflict will force us to rethink our corupt fundamentals. And, the enemy is not sophisticated enough to harm us while we make these cultural changes.

Unlike the Vietnamese, the Islamofascists have declared war on America. Unlike the Vietnamese, the Islamofascists have routinely murdered Americans for decades. Unlike the Vietnamese, the Islamofascists have attacked our homeland. And, unlike the Vietnamese, Islamic terrorist will view winning this single battle in the Middle East as winning a single battle in the Middle East. If this battle is lost, the war will continue – but it will follow an alternate history similar to one defined by a decisive loss at the Battle of Midway.