Ghost Busters

How fitting Mr. Santayana's quote is these days. We are already "forgetting" when it comes to those who wish the U.S. to pull out of Iraq before the job is done. We already know that this did not work in Lebanon or Somalia. People also seem to forget all the bad things Saddam was up to prior to the U.S. invading Iraq. Now we have Iran, and still people are rushing to the defense of the Iranians, who do appear to study history and know how the Europeans will act next before the Europeans do themselves.

Perhaps the problem today is not forgetting, but learning in the first place...

Iraq is just like Vietnam except: We occupy Hanoi. We've captured Ho Chi Minh.
The North Vietnamese have just held a free and democratic election. The North Vietnamese are working on a new constitution. Yes, Iraq is just like Vietnam.

Outstanding article. Right to the point. I'm one of those supporters. I have a son in the U.S. Army, 21 years old. He has been to Iraq for 13 months. He believes in his "boss" and believes the job should be finished. Thank you for your article and support of our sons and daughters. God bless our troops and God bless America.

As a veteran, I find it interesting that private citizens have to "pass the hat" to get soldiers and Marines, who have provided a great service to our nation in a time of war, the things that they need. I salute these groups whose support for the troops does "represent the true character of our nation." As is often the case, President Bush's rhetoric about supporting the troops is much grander than his actions--what a travesty.

I am touhed by Mr. Henninger's article. The old gray anti-war crowd are fighting to get their tired message across to a new generation. How sad they are reduced to groveling for media attention.

Meanwhile, as pointed out, support for our troops and for the people of Iraq goes forward. These efforts are unheralded by the mass media, who would rather see aging rockers sing songs of protest.

I am in awe of their sacrifice for this nation. It always makes me so proud of the men and women who serve in the military. This is why all of the anti-war attention is a slap in the face of all fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families are just as great as the ones made in past wars. They need the gratitude of a grateful nation, which they deserve. Time to forget the ghosts of Vietnam and win the war in terror.

An excellent article. One aspect of the Quiet Majority that the author may overlook--and certainly the kook left do--is some discouragement that the war in Iraq is not being prosecuted with sufficient ferocity, which may also decline for its support in the polls. For example, another battalion could destroy the Syrian-Iraq border and stop the imporation of terrorists and weapons; another could do the same on the Iran-Iraq border; a small brigade could take out that cleric Mukti al-Sadr who causes so many problems, etc., etc. I say, support the troops, support the war, get on with it slowly but surely and up the stakes right away.

There is a great deal of difference between supporting the troops on the front-line, and supporting the war in principle. Those of us who continue to oppose the war would do nothing to further increase the danger our brave soldiers face. What we will do is oppose the criminals in Washington and London who put our soldiers in harms way illegally. Don't take support for the troops as support for the war.

As a Vietnam vet, and retired enlisted Marine, I lament the fact that we are more or less standing by in silence as we watch events developing which tore the heart out of the country some thirty years ago. Since we have "been there, done that" we should understand this media blitz of antiwar protest. At this juncture it should not matter to my brothers whether they are personally for or against either war or the president, rather we should be coming together to prevent the outcome to be driven by the always anti any war crowd. I implore my fellow vets to remember and utilize the very powerful "moral authority" (if such a thing exists) which we earned in blood and put politics aside long enough to show this generation of warriors that our generation of warriors will not allow it to happen again unchallanged.

The political class, especially the left political class, have not contributed to any positive values since Vietnam. They have not ideas nor solutions to the numerous problems we face as a nation and as a society. And now we have buffoons such as Chuck Hagel promoting on TV his outdated views. The media continues to be the chief enabler.

The people that see the danger and do something about it have always worked in the shadows and have always made a difference when it counted. However, we will continue to see the attention of the media toward the opposition-to-everything crowd.