From the WSJ Opinion Archives

by JAMES TARANTO
Friday, March 28, 2003 3:25 P.M. EST

Saddam's Vietnam?
In the dreams of the anti-American left, every war is Vietnam. That conflict was their greatest--indeed, their only--triumph of the 20th century. A divided America lost its will to fight, and the people of South Vietnam lost their chance at freedom. Some folks positively lust for American defeat--Newsday reports Nicholas De Genova, a Columbia University anthropologist, told a campus "teach-in" that "I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus"--while others reflexively reach for the Vietnam analogy every time America goes to war.

An example of the latter is the New York Times' R.W. Apple, who began an Oct. 31, 2001, piece as follows: "Like an unwelcome specter from an unhappy past, the ominous word "quagmire" has begun to haunt conversations among government officials and students of foreign policy, both here and abroad. Could Afghanistan become another Vietnam?" Yesterday Apple weighed in on Iraq, observing that "the North Vietnamese, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland and the Serbs in Kosovo have all shown how an outmanned, outgunned force can fight back." The Iraqis, he seems to think, have done so too--though we're inclined to be skeptical of Apple's judgment, given that Kabul fell two weeks after his "quagmire" analysis.

But maybe we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss Vietnam analogies. Consider this observation, from a piece by Michael Gordon in today's Times:

The United States military now faces a series of difficult calculations in its efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein and his government.

One way to accomplish that goal is to try to advance quickly to the outskirts of Baghdad, destroy the Republican Guard troops defending the approaches to the capital and then win the fight inside the city.

Once Mr. Hussein is deposed, the fedayeen and other paramilitary forces that have been attacking allied troops as they head north would find themselves cut off from the main source of their power.

In this view, the paramilitary forces would then be defeated by American and British troops or destroyed by Shiite Muslims eager to settle scores after decades of repression. A new order would be established in Iraq from the inside out.

But there is another possible approach, one that commanders indicated earlier this week they might favor. That is to defer the rush to Baghdad and to focus instead on ridding Iraqi cities in the south of fedayeen. That would make it easier for the United States to run supply lines north and could encourage the Shiites in the south to throw off the yoke.

Reader Michael Segal observes: "Everyone is converging on the scenario of one side controlling the countryside and the other controlling the cities, until finally the cities start falling one by one. It sounds a lot like Vietnam to me, except that Saddam will not fare as well as Gerald Ford."

Bin Laden Breaks His Word
"British military interrogators claim captured Iraqi soldiers have told them that al-Qaeda terrorists are fighting on the side of Saddam Hussein's forces against allied troops near Basra," the Sydney Morning Herald reports. "At least a dozen members of Osama bin Laden's network are in the town of Az Zubayr where they are coordinating grenade and gun attacks on coalition positions, according to the Iraqi prisoners of war."

Impossible! Don't these al Qaeda guys know that they're Islamic fundamentalists and Saddam is secular? How could they join forces in the face of such basic philosophical disagreements? Why Saddam and al Qaeda are enemies! We heard it from Osama bin Laden himself! Say it ain't so, Osama!

The Weapons Saddam Doesn't Have
Allied military intelligence suggests Saddam Hussein is outfitting his Medina division with artillery shells carrying mustard gas, sarin or nerve agents, the New York Times reports. "Army officials said they strongly believed that Mr. Hussein would use the weapons as allied troops moved toward Baghdad to oust him and his government." Nice job, Hans Blix.

Arab Pride
"We're all Iraqis now," declares "distinguished Egyptian journalist" Hani Shukrallah in a London Guardian op-ed:

Perhaps the most enthusiastically greeted piece of news has been the shooting down of an American attack helicopter south of Baghdad. "Did you see the old man who downed the Apache helicopter?" I've been continually asked, the rhetorical question uttered always in tones of glowing pride. Very few, if any, are under any illusion that Iraq could win the war, though many will dutifully mumble "may God grant us victory," as they discuss the latest reports of Iraqi resistance. All are outraged and grief-stricken at the death and destruction being wreaked on the Iraqi people, and most people realise that much more lies ahead. Yet none can help but feel a certain pride, a sense of dignity restored. We are not, after all, mice.

No, Arabs are not mice; they are human beings--as the allies are well aware. A news photo snapped by the Baltimore Sun's John Makely shows a U.S. Marine, Lance Cpl. Marcco Ware, carrying a shoeless, wounded Iraqi soldier off the battlefield. The Iraqi had just participated in an ambush of Ware's battalion.

In contrast, Saddam's regime does view Iraqis are as vermin to be exterminated. "Iraqi paramilitary forces in Basra fired mortars and machine guns Friday on about 1,000 Iraqi civilians trying to leave the besieged city, forcing them to retreat," the Associated Press reports. Is this the sort of "resistance" that leads Hani Shukrallah to beam with pride?

Syria's Consequences
"Saddam Hussein has made extensive preparations to flee Iraq--and has already smuggled his family out to Syria," reports the Australian Daily Telegraph. "Just days before the bombardment of Baghdad began, Saddam's first wife Sajida--mother of his heirs Uday and Qusay and daughters Raghad, Rana and Hala--fled to Damascus with three lorryloads of possessions and 60 bodyguards." (Lorryloads is British for "truckloads.")

Syria, like Iraq, is run by a Baathists--essentially Arab fascists. But Damascus' late dictator, Hafez Assad (now succeeded by son Bashar) was a longtime rival of Saddam; Syria even joined the coalition that liberated Kuwait in 1991. Lately, though, the Syrians have tilted toward Iraq, presumably for fear that their own terror-sponsoring regime will end up in America's cross hairs after Iraq's liberation.

Damascus may be offering Saddam more than rhetorical support and the possibility of exile. Haaretz reports "Syria is granting free passage across its border with Iraq to volunteers who wish to join the fight against the U.S. and British forces," and that Damascus is "even purchasing military equipment on behalf of the Iraqi army":

The equipment was reportedly delivered from its country of origin to the Syrian port of Latakia and then carried on trucks to Iraq. The purchases were made from a number of East European countries, and the equipment included engines for Russian-made tanks and aircraft. Also purchased were tank carriers, probably from Germany.

CNN reports Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued a warning to Damascus this afternoon: "These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces. We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments." Are the Syrians trying to become the next American target?

The Myth of Iraqi 'Nationalism'
Iraqi dissident Kanan Makiya, writing a "war diary" for The New Republic Online, sizes up the pro-Saddam resistance.

Do not believe any commentator who says that a rising surge of "nationalism" is preventing Iraqis from greeting U.S. and British troops in the streets with open arms. What is preventing them from rising up and taking over the streets of their cities is confusion about American intentions and fear of the murderous brown-shirt thugs known as the Fedayeen Saddam, who are leading the small-arms-fire attacks on American and British soldiers. The coalition forces have an urgent need to send clear and unmistakable signals to the people of Iraq that unlike in 1991, there is no turning back from the destruction of Saddam Hussein. And in order to do this effectively they must turn to the Iraqi opposition, which has so far been marginalized.

In National Review Online, Turkish journalist Asla Aydintasbas reports that "U.S. war planners have been discouraging the Iraqi population from any uprising and trying the keep the Iraqi opposition forces off the battlefield." Aydintasbas faults this decision, which she attributes to generals fighting the last war. An "insider" tells Aydintasbas: "The lesson Tommy Franks got from the Afghan campaign last year is that it is risky to work with indigenous groups."

You Don't Say--I
"War Strategy: Planners Must Ask 'What If?' "--headline, CNN.com, March 28

This Blood's for You
Volkert van der Graaf, the accused assassin of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, "has told judges he acted on behalf of the country's Muslims," CNN reports. Fortuyn, who was murdered last May, had warned that unassimilated Muslim immigrants posed a threat to Holland's liberal traditions. As we noted last year, Van der Graaf's history suggested that he was a radical environmentalist.

Our Friends the Saudis
Stephen Schwartz reports in The Weekly Standard that Asan Akbar, the Army sergeant who allegedly attacked command tents in Kuwait with grenades, killing two, received religious instruction from Saudi-backed institutions in the U.S.:

Sources within the American Muslim community say Akbar attended the student mosque at the University of California, Davis, which is controlled by the Saudi-created Muslim Students' Association (MSA). He also listed (under his original name, Mark Fidel Kools) an address at the Bilal Islamic Center in Los Angeles, which is reportedly under "official" Saudi ownership. The Bilal Islamic Center and its Saudi-trained imams are known for venomous preaching of extremism.

Writing in Slate, Deanne Stillman urges the military to do more to screen recruits for radical Muslim tendencies.

Weasel Watch
Check out this transcript from a press briefing in Paris by the French Foreign Ministry spokesman:

Q: France and Kuwait signed a defense agreement at the end of the Gulf War. What impact are these dozens of Iraqi missile attacks against Kuwait having on that agreement? What is your reaction to these attacks and should the defense agreement be invoked?

A: I have nothing to add to what the spokesman said yesterday.

Q: Why can't such a simple question get an answer for a week?

A: Quite simply, if I may say so, because we have no specific, verified information about the dozens of Iraqi missile attacks against Kuwait that you refer to.

The Associated Press reports that "violent racist attacks quadrupled in France in 2002 to the highest level in a decade, and more than half of the assaults were aimed at Jews." France's prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, seems to think America is to blame. "Raffarin said he was worried the war in Iraq would cause religious tensions in France to surge." Never mind that the report covers last year and the shooting in Iraq didn't start until this month.

Another AP report--this is really the AP, not the Onion--brings the news that "France's government angrily insisted on Friday that it hopes U.S.-led forces win the war in Iraq." Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau declared "that France's stand on who should win the war was 'totally devoid of ambiguity.' " What a relief.

Rachel Corrie's Friends
Our item last week on Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old Olympia, Wash., woman who died in a Gaza bulldozer accident she caused, brought some angry e-mails from readers who took issue with our characterization of her as a "terrorism advocate." Corrie was in Gaza on behalf of a group called the International Solidarity Movement, at whose offices, the Associated Press reports, the Israeli Defense Forces yesterday captured a senior terrorist from Islamic Jihad.

"The army said the man was being sheltered in the Jenin offices of the Palestinian-backed peace [sic] group whose members often act as human shields, placing themselves between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians," the AP reports. A spokesman for the group claims he didn't know the man was wanted.

Life Imitates the Onion

"1. I Support My Activist Girlfriend"--"Top Anti-War Slogans," the Onion, March 26

" 'It's a harsh condemnation of these people,' admitted the man holding the sign, although his female companion quickly insisted, 'If you know your history, it's not.' 'No, it's not,' he agreed."--FrontPageMagazine.com, March 27

We Imitate the Onion

"You're getting worked up over nothing. Everything is going to be fine. So just relax, okay? . . . We're in control of this situation, and we know what we're doing."--"Bob Sheffer," "Point-Counterpoint: The War on Iraq," the Onion, March 26

"So if you're getting impatient, just relax. Go for a walk, catch a movie, pick up a good book, spend some time with the kids. Soon enough the war will be over, and America will have won."--Best of the Web Today, March 27

Sportsmen Against Saddam
Yesterday we cheered the patriotic sentiments of golf superstar Tiger Woods. Bicyclist Lance Armstrong has a similar statement on his Web site (emphasis his):

What I will say, and have said many times, is that NOBODY wants a war. Not me. Not President Bush. Not Tony Blair. No one . . . but sometimes it may be unavoidable. I absolutely support the President and absolutely support our troops.

The Weekly Standard reports that Wayne Gretzky--a Canadian, no less--also backs America. "All I can say is the president of the United States is a great leader, I happen to think he's a wonderful man and if he believes what he's doing is right, I back him 100%," the hockey great said at a Tuesday press conference in Calgary, Alberta. "If the president decides to go to war he must know more than we know or we hear about. He must have good reason to go, and we have to back that."

He's Sick All Right
From Jim Romenesko's MediaNews:

San Francisco Chronicle technology columnist Henry Norr (left) says he was suspended without pay after getting arrested in "a peaceful civil disobedience" against the war. "The offense the Chronicle is charging me with is falsifying my timecard, but this is a bogus, after-the-fact cover for an act of political retaliation and an attempt to intimidate other employees," Norr writes in an e-mail. "For Thursday, the day I spent in jail, I took a sick day. I did so because I was sick--heartsick over the beginning of the war, nauseated by the lies and the arrogance and the stupidity that led to it, and deeply depressed by the death and destruction it would bring."

The Dixie Chicks Get Verbed
Matt Drudge reports executives of the Dreamworks film company are nervous about Chris Rock, star of "Head of State," a comedy that opens today:

There are deep concerns that Rock may unleash a fresh diatribe on President Bush and the Iraq war, studio insiders reveal, which could ignite a public backlash and boycott of the film. . . .

"We are confident Chris knows this is not the appropriate time to make jokes about war and the president," said one top studio source. "We don't want to get Dixie-Chicked, or anything like that, out of the gate. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in the making of the movie and its marketing."

'A Somewhat Different Perspective on Time'
It's hard to believe that a daily newspaper in a medium-sized U.S. city in the 21st century would publish an article perpetuating the stereotype that black people are lazy, but there it is in the Portland (Maine) Press-Herald:

The workplace, as it has been essentially developed by straight white men in this country, has to change if it is to be multicultural.

It was designed to fit how they live in the world. It is not a place that was originally "designed" for people, especially African-Americans or other people of color, who value family and who have a somewhat different perspective on time than the originators of the workplace have.

Glad They Cleared That Up
Yesterday's Los Angeles Times carried the following correction:

A "Counter Intelligence" review in the Food section March 19 quoted the owner of Mr. Pickles Deli in Los Angeles recalling a radio comment by talk show host Laura Schlessinger about the restaurant's brisket. Schlessinger said that the brisket does not need to be adulterated by ketchup, not that the brisket is the first step before adultery.

You Don't Say--II
"Sudden, Unexpected Death May Kill Many Adults"--headline, Reuters Health, March 28

With Prices High, Addicts Aren't
"A massive crackdown on crime after the killing of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, has sent drug prices soaring in Belgrade," reports London's Guardian. The headline calls this a "Drug Crisis." Interesting priorities they have over at the Guardian.

(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Jeremy Winer, Daniel Goldstein, Michael Koolidge, Barak Moore, William Specht, David Brown, Aaron Gross, Max Boot, Jon Sanders, Jerome Marcus, Christopher Marciano, Zalman Shmotkin, Steve Prestegard, Jenifer Sawicki, Linda Cooke, Rosanne Klass, Natalie Cohen, S.E. Brenner, Patricia Catto, Monty Krieger, Joel Goldberg, Richard Miniter, Drew Cooper, Raghu Desikan, Judie Amsel, Howard Weiser, Glenn Bialik, Dan Ogden, Mara Gold, Yehuda Hilewitz, Elena Matis, Michael Zukerman, C.E. Dobkin, Edward Tannen, Gregory Herbert, Marie Bourgeois, Damian Bennett, Bernard Cohen, Steve Vaughn, Thomas Dinsmore, Joshua Brook, David Wheeler, Michael Kingsley, Edward Himmelfarb, Gabe Sunshine, Russell Depalma, Zev Meisels, Evan Winer, Nancy Zimmerman, Victor Pontes, Jay Burnett, Michael Demmons, Zach Buhler, Monica Showalter, Jose Guardia, Janice Lyons, Richard Bowles, Charlie Gaylord, Bryan Wilkes, Mark Taylor, John Forsberg and Heidi Huettner. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)

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