This article is in the Chicago Tribune:
http://tinyurl.com/y9b5fn
Titled "`And they call me unpatriotic' Ex-GI's anti-war stance recalls
McGovern's bid, By Tim Jones Tribune national correspondent, Published
October 22, 2006
He is quoted, while speaking in JOHNSTOWN, Pa: -- "John Murtha, the
gruff Marine and Vietnam War veteran, remembers Sen. George McGovern, a
decorated World War II bomber pilot, barnstorming the country in 1972
as the Democratic presidential nominee, calling for the pullout of all
American troops from Vietnam."
Yesterday I was at the Naval Academy with my Father touring. And one
picture struck me. It was a depiction of one of the many graduates of
the Naval Academy performing a feat of heroism. In 1972 this John Ripley fellow "saved the day" for the South Vietnamese and the US war effort. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ripley_(USMC)
He took some five hundred pounds of explosive (probably semtex) and
single-handedly, while under fire, loaded the semtex onto a bridge that
marked the road between the interior and the ancient capital of Hue. He
did this while an entire division of NVA troops and tanks was headed
his way. This action prevented these troops from achieving a victory
over the South Vietnamese forces.
This was 1972 and the US had pulled
back to an advisory position. According to the article if it hadn't
been for this man's heroism the US might have lost militarily in 1972.
I don't know if I buy the single hero narrative of warfare, but the
mural was interesting, because I was seeing it at the same time as
Murtha was citing McGovern in 1972, and as I thought about Richard
Nixon's corrupt and paranoid re-election campaign. McGovern was right.
MacNamara had seen it in 1968 when he realized that Vietnam was a
stalemate. Without the help of the South Vietnamese, all our acts of
heroism and violence could only keep the North Vietnamese from winning.
The only people who could win the Vietnamese Civil War, were the
Vietnamese. I know they tried, for example this story here tells of one soldiers bravery:
http://www.rfa.org/english/about/oped/2006/03/24/southerland_vietnam/
But the fact is, it wasn't our war to win. It was there war and we didn't even have a clue about what that meant. That made our hero's actions all the more poignant. What cause did they serve? What strategy did they advance? They certainly helped the CREEP in his re-election efforts, but otherwise they were like the little boy with his finger in the dyke.
And Murtha has been the target for the obvious reason:
"I did not agree," Murtha said, firmly embracing a diplomatic nicety.
"But now Murtha, a 32-year Democratic veteran of Congress and one of
the best friends the Pentagon has in Washington, is on the campaign
plane to dozens of congressional districts, echoing a McGovern-esque
call to get the U.S. out of Iraq.
"The spin from the White House is that there will be chaos if we pull
out. It's chaos now, for Christ's sake," Murtha grumbled. "This is the
most important issue in the election. You can't solve any other problem
unless you solve the war.
"And they call me unpatriotic," Murtha said, shaking his head.
Murtha talks about how the far right is building a similar narrative
now. They don't want to face reality, and like with Vietnam, they'd
rather build up a divisive and anti-patriotic (but Nationalistic)
narrative about the US as Empire savaged from within. You know the
narrative, the Ann Coulter narrative of treason and enemies within.
"Next month's midterm elections will be a test of national tolerance
for the war and could, as opinion polls suggest, negatively affect the
chances of Republicans maintaining control of Congress. The war already
has eroded support for President Bush, whose approval ratings range
from 35 percent to 40 percent. At least 78 U.S. servicemen and women
have been killed in Iraq so far in October, the highest monthly toll in
nearly two years."
But Republicans have achieved most of their goals; a Conservative
Supreme Court, money transfered to their backers, and a situation in
which anything the Democrats do to try to right will look like the
Democrats doing something wrong.
"While polls suggest that a majority of Americans now think it was a
mistake to invade Iraq, the 74-year-old Murtha is leading an almost
singular political charge to bring the troops home. Eleven months after
Murtha stunned Washington with a call to withdraw from Iraq, there is
no boisterous band of incumbent Democratic brothers joining the old
Marine against the barrage of cut-and-run and defeat-o-crat charges."
This is the same old tired narrative I hear from Vietnam Veterans and
veterans around my age. "We coulda won if only we hadn't been stabbed
in the back!" Not able to blame the enemy. Not being able to tell
friend from foe, and not being able to understand the nuances of
strategy or military reality, these otherwise intelligent people resort
to narratives of betrayal and hatred in which they project their own
feelings unto civilians and folks like McGovern or Murtha. Nevermind
that these folks had a valid view.
"It took a long time to realize that George McGovern was way ahead of
everyone else," he said.
"As McGovern, who won only one state in the 1972 election, will
testify, being ahead of everyone is not necessarily an essential
ingredient in successful election campaigns. And that may explain why
Murtha, a prolific bring-home-the-bacon pol who ran unopposed in this
southwestern Pennsylvania district two years ago, isn't only being
challenged but is hearing his military and patriotic credentials called
into question."
We've already passed our 1972 moment. It came fast because this war is
so obviously FUBARed that it doesn't even compare to Vietnam
"Recent dueling rallies on successive days alternately praised Murtha
as a profile in courage and defender of the troops, and derided him as
a practitioner of treason."
In Vietnam we did turn things back over the Vietnamese. They could have
failed in 1972 (to Nixon's embarrassment) or in 1975. Our failures on
that score made little ultimate difference. In Iraq, we failed in 2003. Our failure to communicate in both cases did make the ultimate difference. The guys with guts were folks like Ripley, but also McGovern, and Murtha. If people fight for what they believe in, do the right thing that the situation demands they do, then they are heros. Our relatively honorable behavior in Vietnam has led to us having real relations with that country in the present that would have surprised even Kissinger in 1972. If we had kept fighting, we'd still be fighting today.
Chris