A question for the day.

Did we lose the Vietnam War? Conservatives often seem to argue that we didn't lose so much as give up just as victory was about to materialize. If only the Democratic Congress had given South Vietnam $500 million more!

The same argument is being made now with regard to Iraq. We're in danger of losing just as we are about to win.

I suppose there's intellectual consistency in this. But do conservatives really want to make this argument? I don't want to tell them how to make their case, but this approach seems bone-headed.

One, it brings to mind Vietnam. Two, it's intellectually incoherent. If victory is just around the corner then why can't we start planning for our withdrawal? Victory can't be both around the corner and so fragile that the mere discussion of withdrawal is dangerous, as both Cheney and Bush claim.

Another point I can't help noticing is that the same conservatives who always insist we could have won in Vietnam describe Afghanistan as the Soviet Union's Vietnam. How can that be if Vietnam was such a near-win? When conservatives draw the analogy between Afghanistan and Vietnam aren't they in fact admitting that Vietnam was a #%!#!@!!!ed-up mess?

I think that's what they actually believe--just as liberals believe it. Vietnam was a mess.

So is Iraq.

It's time to admit it.

Victory isn't around the corner.

Victory is nowhere in sight.