Aid and Comfort to the Enemy

[OrdinaryTa]

It is a fact that in the 1960's some in the antiwar Left supported the enemy. For example, at a rally in 1968 I personally saw Jerry Rubin wearing the Viet Cong flag. At similar rallies I remember hearing young Americans cheer for the National Liberation Front: "... Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, NLF is gonna win! ..."

However, we didn't lose the war because a handful of Americans supported the Viet Cong. That is a myth put forward by right wingers. We lost the Vietnam War for a variety of reasons, including General Westmoreland's incompetence.

[jiacinto]

1. Well

It angers me that a small minority of DUers is anti-troop.

[OrdinaryTa]

2. Kerry Remembers the Sixties

It's possible that Kerry voted for the Iraq war because he didn't want to be accused, for a second time in his life, of providing aid and comfort to the enemy. That was the accusation Republicans made against him when he threw his medals over the fence.

Because of support from Democrats, Bush has not been able to make an "aid and comfort" argument. However, he can't expect uncritical support to continue. Americans expect a truthful accounting of how the war is going. Bush was not truthful in his original justification for the war, and his subsequent statements sound mendacious as well.

Republicans in general are too ready to label their critics as traitors. Bush got Democratic support that I believe should have been withheld, but that's history now.