Doesn't this sound like deja vu all over again?

From: Debra Walker <ascutney48@yahoo.com>

Date: July 24, 2005 1:07:23 PM CDT

     There are many similarities between this war and the War in Vietnam.

     The Iraq situation also parallels the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980's and 1990's.    That's particularly scary, because Soviet involvement led to the destruction of Afghanistan's infrastructure and tore apart that country's social fabric.   The chaotic environment which resulted was a fertile breeding ground for terrorists and religious extremists.   If we don't actually want to encourage terrorists, we should avoid following the Soviets' bad example.

      When you consider the conflicts between Sunnis and Shi'ites, combined with the presence of American troops, a third parallel comes to mind:  Northern Ireland.    Conflict between Catholics and Protestants was bad enough before British soldiers were sent in.   The British soldiers rapidly alienated the Catholics and provided a convenient target for the IRA's wrath.    Left alone, the Catholics and Protestants probably would have worked out their difficulties, but British military intervention made a bad situation worse.

      Given all of these recent experiences and more like them, it's extremely discouraging to realize that so many Americans are such slow learners.