Mark Davis writes Want to Lose War in Iraq? Study Vietnam.

As painful as it was to watch the Vietnamese we abandoned rushing to cling to
the last helicopters out in 1975, at least we did not face the threat of an empowered enemy following us back to our shores to continue attacking us.

We face that threat now. Political enemies of the war in Iraq seem to have forgotten how to win, but their strategy for losing is ripped right from the pages of how we lost three decades ago.

. . . .

We can find ways to duck the blame for the consequences of choosing to lose in Southeast Asia. It will not be as easy to spin an intentional loss in Iraq, where an energized enemy will not be satisfied with limiting its killing to the immediate area.

The current U.S. surge in Iraq may succeed enough to create new reserves of patience in a country once again tempted to give up. But even if it does not, we would do well to remember that the people we are fighting today want to follow us home.

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