American Revolution and Quagmire

From 1780 through 1782, General Nathanael Greene commanded the American colonial forces in the southern colonies. Under General Greene’s command, the American forces were never victorious in any major engagement against the British forces. Every time the two armies faced each other on the field of battle, the British took the ground, and the American forces withdrew after the battle, which was the definition of defeat. In spite of this, General Greene maneuvered the British Cornwallis into Yorktown where General Washington subsequently forced his surrender. In December, 1781, Greene forced the British to evacuate the south from Charleston, South Carolina, ending major campaigns in that sector of the conflict.

What a shame the modern American left was not there to inform Generals Greene and Washington, the Continental Congress, and all colonists fighting Britain of the hopeless quagmire in which they were mired. The outcome of this hopeless, futile venture would have been obvious to them. No other solution save withdrawal of forces from the Revolution would have been acceptable. Lives could have been saved had the colonial patriots relegated the great principles and spirit of freedom and liberty to the back seat of human despotism. Yes, indeed, what a shame that there was no political left movement in 1780 America.

Of course, I am expressing sarcasm at the philosophy of the contemporary American left. Their constant bombardment about "quagmire," and other defeatist philosophies, in Iraq and Afghanistan are dangerous. Their attempts to undermine American and allied success in this current war are dangerous. Their use of media to expose classified programs being used to prosecute this war is dangerous. Their use of the courts, even the Supreme Court, to hamstring the Commander-in-Chief's ability to wage a successful war is dangerous. They are dangerous because of the nature of this war. In Vietnam, which seems to be the limit of their knowledge of American involvement in war, Ho Chi Minh's objective was to take Saigon and subdue South Vietnam. In the scheme of Cold War threats, larger designs could be read into that war (i.e., the prevalent "domino theory" of that period), but the reality of the Vietnam situation was that the United States of America was under no direct threat from North Vietnam.

Not so in our current global war. Al-Qaeda and other similar enemies have directly targeted, unfortunately successfully, American assetts both abroad and at home. They continue to plan to do so. Their objective, stated plainly enough by them, is to cripple the United States of America and all of Western civilization. This is a significant difference between the Vietnam conflict and the current conflict. Although it resulted in great suffering and loss of life to the people of Vietnam and Cambodia, withdrawing from Vietnam did not directly afflict America with tragedy. To withdraw from the current war being fought on the Iraqi and Afghani fronts - and anywhere else the enemy operates - would be a major catastrophe for America and Western civilization. This is why the attempts of the American left to hamper America's war efforts are so dangerous, and why it really is a good thing that they were not present in 1780.