Am I the only one who had a Nixon flashback when they saw the title of Senator Chuck Hagel's piece in the Washington Post this weekend?

Thirty-three years ago, another Republican announced the signing of a peace treaty in Vietnam to bring "peace with honor".  I reread the transcript of that speech this morning and was mentally assaulted by the idea that either (1) Chuck Hagel is the most politically tone-deaf pol I have ever heard of or (2) Chuck Hagel thinks that the entire readership of the Washington Post has the IQ of a bowl of leftover turkey soup.

There are some amazing similarities in the two pieces.  Nixon spoke of the peace as being necessary not only for us..but for the entire world.  Hagel speaks of our leaving as being key to peace in the region.  Both men speak glowingly of the men and women fighting the war and those who sacrificed their lives in the cause.  Yet both make that sacrifice meaningless by surrendering in the name of peace.

Senator Hagel is badly misguided.  Iraq is much worse than Vietnam in the sense that, should we withdraw, the 2 million dead in Vietnam will be a fraction of the dead in the middle east that comes from our abandonment.  Also, Vietnam had a limited ability to effect change in the world as a whole.  It was much more symbolic than structural.  Iraq is different. 

Senator Hagel is correct in one assertion.  He states that regional powers will fill regional vacuums, and they will move to work in their own self interest.  Indeed they will.  Make no mistake about it, if we abandon Iraq, regional powers will move in our place.  Those regional powers may or may not be nation-states, but whatever they are, their interests will directly conflict with ours.

This is what makes Iraq different.  An Iraq controlled by an entity that has as its purpose the destruction of America becomes a safe haven for terrorists and extra-state actors.  And we will once again be severely weakened in the eyes of an enemy that worships the strongest horse in the race.

The solution in Iraq is something entirely different...but more on that another time.