by John Moore

As bad as it was, we left Vietnam because of the killing fields- the orgy of violence in Cambodia where Pol Pot killed two million.

A buddy of mine told me about a memorial he saw while he was over there containing eight thousand skulls under glass in this large grassy knoll where people can see. Amazing.

And, we have the Hmong. I know lots about them, primarily because a friend of mine from LaCrosse, WI, who helped put together a book, called "Hmong Lives." It is somewhat of a tragedy about the lives of the Hmong after the Americans recruited them to help fight the Communists in Laos. It is just eight stories of Hmong elders mostly telling about trusting the Americans. When they began to fight the Communists, scores of them died and more likely than not, when they depended on us, we dropped the ball. We promised air strikes; we didn't show up. We said we would send in weapons; they never came. We promised them we would stay; we left. Can an American ally depend on America for the long haul? Will we do what we promised?

Although we did make it ten years in Vietnam, we didn't finish the job and are still paying for it. Our track record for sticking around is not good. We have to make Iraq different. The stakes are higher than they've ever been. Escalating Violence: CEASE FIRE! ARE WE CRAZY? by John Henry Lee

The very idea that we would back off from taking the fight to the insurgents in Iraq is unthinkable to any military person. The fact that we are at a full scale war should not surprise anybody. It has been only a matter of time. The idea that the Sunni and Shite Muslims would forget their hatred for each other and turn it toward us is only surprising that it has taken this long. The absolute naiveté of our military planners that this was going to happen is baffling beyond all words.

I would not say, "I told you so" because no one listens to me anyway; but from the beginning, I have been amazed that we have operated like some sort of naïve Robin Hood with all the powers that be in that part of the world. In this case, the various religious leaders were waiting in the weeds. We are at war. And, it does no real good for those like Kennedy to want to put a Vietnam on it, even if it is true. This is a time for us as a people to unite.

This week on the News Hour on NPR, I was appalled at the comments. "Hopeless, no way out, damned if we do, damned if we don't;" all relatively true, but it is the nature of war. Arguing about the wheres, whys, and what ifs will not help us at this point. And, to think of asking for a cease fire-Unthinkable! Forget it! I have great faith in the Marines that they are doing the right thing in Fallujah. They had the city locked down; they are taking it block by block and they are not letting charades like a mosque to provide the terrorists sanctuary. When a mosque, a church, whatever is used to wage war, it no longer has meaning as a religious building or sanctuary. The terrorists are clothed like civilians; and therefore, this makes it extremely difficult. There will be civilian casualties; sad and yet, the flip side of the coin is that we have no choice.

The Arab world has no respect for a soft approach. Forget it, anything but to root out and destroy the terrorists simply invites terrorism to get worse.

There are three imperative things that should be done immediately in my view. (1) More troops. I would immediately deploy the 82d Airborne Division in a massive jump into Iraq in a show of force. (2) have an almost total news blackout. There is no way to have a the open access for the media in in a time like this. The news media is only interested in a story and it interferes with our mission at this point. Let the media return to pre-embedded days, where they can get their correspondence out the old fashion way-wires or whatever. But this openness now in the midst of war- No Way! The media interviews Iraqis, broadcasts it to American and we appear in the worst possible light. (3) The president needs to totally concentrate on the war and forget whether he will be elected or not elected. He needs new and better ideas. Get rid of Rumsfeld. This, if nothing else, proves that Rumsfeld has his head up his fourth point of contact. The president needs the same type of decisiveness that he exhibited after 9-11. The American people who care will support him. We must get this done and get it done forcefully. Airborne.