Updated and Bumped - IRAQ: STANDING AT THE CROSS-ROADS

Ba'athist Party loyalists are waiting like vultures for America's defeat with one eye on signs of Coalition weakness and the other on the Iraqi seat of power. No wonder they are being compared to the notorious Khmer Rouge of another era. A disaster for both America and Iraq would deliver a huge psychological victory directly into the hands of the Defeatocrats. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why Hillary is calling for the withdrawal of the troops and the removal of the present Iraqi government.

President Bush's recent comparison between the pullout of the current conflict and Vietnam is an important one as there are some parallels that need to be considered. There is an excellent article taken from 'The Weekly Standard' which begins with the opening, 'Like a pig in muck, the Left loves to wallow in Vietnam. But only in their "Vietnam". Not in the real Vietnam war.'

The writer describes how while the U.S. Left celebrated the country's pullout from the war, in Phnom Penh, former Cambodian prime minister Sirk Matak wrote to John Gunther Dean, the U.S. ambassador, turning down his offer of the evacuation which would have saved his life:

Dear Excellency and Friend:I thank you very sincerely for your letter and for your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it. You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is no matter, because we all are born and must die. I have only committed this mistake of believing in you [the Americans].

Please accept, Excellency and dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments.

S/Sirik Matak

The writer goes on to explain that "the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh a few days later. Sirik Matak was executed: shot in the stomach, he was left without medical help and took three days to die. Between 1 and 2 million Cambodians were murdered by the Khmer Rouge in the next three years. Next door, tens of thousands of Vietnamese were killed, and many more imprisoned. Hundreds of thousands braved the South China Sea to reach freedom.

The United States welcomed the refugees--but we were in worldwide retreat.'

This is the real reason why Vietnam is remembered as a disaster, by the defeat and aftermath. The Democrats would love us to pull out again so that the current war will be Vietnam revisited. Today Iraq has its own Khmer Rouge waiting on the sidelines, confident of moving in, exacting revenge, carrying out a blood bath, bending the country to their will and humiliating the West, in particular those countries which participated in the effort to restore order in the region by this war.

Saddam's henchmen, the Ba'athists, who are at the moment exiled in Syria are waiting in the wings for America to pull out. Their spokesman, puffing on a Havana cigar is all boasts:

"Blair made Britain a satellite for the US," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Mohammad during a rare interview in a Damascus coffee shop.

"Bush humiliated America and Blair humiliated Britain. If they [Britain] pull out they will break one wing of the occupation."

He speaks with the confidence of a man who is ready to 'pave the way' for American withdrawal (which he sees as inevitable) and who can already see himself with a position of power in a Ba'ath run Iraq.

This party is recognized as the undermining force which has been behind the attacks on the Coalition and has links with many insurgents in Iraq.

The Ba'athists, you can be sure, are every bit as bloodthirsty and vicious as the Khmer Rouge. They can taste the blood-soaked taste of power, and smell the sweet smell of resounding defeat for the Coalition.

The archetypal Conservative leader, Reagan led the U.S. out of the wilderness of the Carter era. After years of Leftist wishy-washy appeasements and the perverse and weak-willed policies of Carteresque Democratic government, Reagan was like a breath of fresh air. I close with a quote from a speech by Reagan that rocked the Left in the 1980s:

"As the years dragged on, we were told that peace would come if we would simply stop interfering and go home. It is time we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause. There is a lesson for all of us in Vietnam. If we are forced to fight, we must have the means and determination to prevail."

Yes, President Reagan. We hear you loud and clear!

SOURCES: Here and here.
Cross-posted here

UPDATE: PUNDITARIAN ADDS THIS ANGLE - ASKING:

DO BARRY OBAMA & JOHNNY EDWARDS WANT MORE LETTERS LIKE THIS ONE?

In April 1975, American Ambassador John Gunther Dean invited Cambodian Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak to flee Phnom Penh ahead of the Khmer Rouge.

Sirik Matak was a cousin of the ruling Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, and while the ruling Prince was hobnobbing with the Communists in Beijing, he participated in a coup d'etat which established a pro-Western, free-market based republic in Cambodia. Norodom Sihanouk sided with the communists, and collaborated with the Khmer Rouge from his sanctuary in China.

In reply to Ambassador Dean's offer of escape, Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak sent this letter:

"Dear Excellency and Friend,

I thank you very sincerely for your letter and your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion.

As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people, which has chosen liberty.

You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it.

You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is too bad, because we are all born and must die one day.

I have committed this mistake of believing in you, the Americans.

Please accept, Excellency, my dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments. Prince Sirik Matak."

The Prince was murdered by the Khmer Rouge less than two weeks later, and the elimination of the nation's non-communist leaders foreshadowed the brutal and ruthless genocide of the "killing fields."

I encourage Barry Obama and John Edwards to look at the faces of the victims of the Khmer Rouge in photographs taken as they faced their executioners, here.

Then let them tell us again why "preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces" in Iraq.

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS:

THE VERY SAME DEMS WHO AGITATED FOR ABANDONING OUR ALLIES THEN ARE DOING IT NOW:

• JOHN KERRY AND TEDDY JO KENNEDY AND THE MCGOVERN/CORLISS & NED LAMONT-(DAILY KOS) WING OF THE PARTY.

THEY WERE IN CONTROL OF CONGRESS THEN. THEY ARE BACK IN CONTROL NOW.

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT BUSH IS STRONGER THAN FORD WAS THEN, AND THE DEMOCRAT MAJORITY IN CONGRESS WEAKER, (BUT NOT BY MUCH).

IN 2008 ALL THIS COMES UP FOR A VOTE.

WE MUSTN'T LET THE KKK - THE KENNEDY-KERRY-KOS GANG - CALL THE SHOTS.

WE'LL GET THE SAME RESULTS:

• IT WILL EMBOLDEN OUR ENEMIES AND LEAD TO GENOCIDE AND DECADES OF RETREAT IN WHICH TENS IF NOT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WILL BE FORCED TO LIVE UNDER TYRANNY.

ONLY THE USA CAN LEAD THE FREE WORLD. AND ONLY IF WE KEEP THE DEMS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.