Back in March of 2009, when the White House still had that intoxicating new administration smell, the earnest young hipsters at this Oregon blog cautioned, “President Obama Must Not Become Lyndon Johnson.” That seems like excellent advice, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on — there were many mistakes LBJ made that should be avoided. Such as this one:
“Washington’s response to the strengthening North Vietnamese defenses was symptomatic of future responses. The President refused to permit attacks on the MiG airfields and rejected impassioned pleas from military commanders to attack the SAM sites before they could become operational; word went out that they were to be struck only if they fired on U.S. aircraft, apparently in vain hopes of a quid pro quo. The first aircraft to be lost to a SAM went down on 24 July, but attacks on the sites were only authorized three days later.”
“This report is so incredible that it has to be accurate. A soldier in Afghanistan was blown up and killed by a Taliban improvised explosive device because he and others had been ordered to show “courageous restraint” when seeing IEDs being planted — lest the locals be disturbed.”
Dan Miller’s post at the Tatler is titled, “Rules of Engagement — Show Courageous Restraint and Die.” Why bother Winning the Future, when you can simply replay 1968 in a continuous loop?
Update: Oh, and speaking of Deja Nam…
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