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Germany's newspapers and magazines would be well advised to print more articles like this one:

"If Iraq Falls
By JOSEF JOFFE
August 27, 2007; Page A11

In contrast to President Bush's dark comparison between Iraq and the bloody aftermath of the Vietnam War last week, there is another, comforting version of the Vietnam analogy that's gained currency among policy makers and pundits. It goes something like this:

After that last helicopter took off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon 32 years ago, the nasty strategic consequences then predicted did not in fact materialize. The "dominoes" did not fall, the Russians and Chinese did not take over, and America remained No. 1 in Southeast Asia and in the world.
[Iraq]

But alas, cut-and-run from Iraq will not have the same serendipitous aftermath, because Iraq is not at all like Vietnam.

(...)"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118817044606009284.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Mr. Joffe claims the dominoes did not fall. Certainly true if you ignore the existence of Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam and the millions who died or were imprisoned or driven from their nations by communist thugs. Unfortunately, Mr. Joffe is another intellectual elitist who has spent a little more time inside the beltway than is probably healthy for rational individuals. I only link his book because the first half is useful - the second half is essentially empty, high-sounding fluff.

Point taken, RayD. Many political intellectuals are an integral part of the so-called inside-the-Beltway crowd and therefore remarkably unable to put their finger on the profound discrepancies between theory and practice. At least he comprehends the potentially devastating implications of a world without America -- from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to the skyrocketing rise of Islamic fundamentalism. As far as my understanding goes, he makes a fairly reasonable impression in comparison with guys like Germany's Peter Scholl-Latour, one of the most deeply committed anti-American demagogues the world has ever seen.

"rejection by Democrats and ex-military"?
The speach was in front of ex-military and they seemed to agree. There may have even been some democrats in the audience. Any outrage was from demoaparatchiks with their oxen well gored.


I may be wrong on the English end of this, but it's probably worth pointing out, just in case, that the words in the German title are a (layman's language?) reference to a sensory distortion as you'd have from a neurological or mental illness, or drug influence. I don't knoiw the correct English term for that, but "distorted perception" sounds too harmless. The German title is calling him pathologically nuts.

Spiegel online ontinues to indulge in blasphemy:

http://www.spiegel.de/spam/0,1518,grossbild-955879-502960,00.html

Do the guys at Tagesspiegel have any views on the armistice that ended WW I? Nothing like balanced reporting to help with a nation's balanced view of the rest of the world.

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