September 16, 2002

Durango Herald

Editor:

In the Zulu War, the British field commander divided his forces as he entered Zulu Land. Part of his command was wiped out at Islawanda. The death of some 1,300 British soldiers was a shock to the British "homefolks" and provided a key lesson in military strategy.

In World War II, Hitler opened a second front against the USSR before fully securing his Western Front objectives. Then, he sent German troops to Africa. A multi-front war turned into a disaster for Hitler and, ultimately, led to his defeat. Thankfully!

Lyndon Johnson tried to finance and win the Viet Nam War, while funding the Great Society programs. By failing to win in Viet Nam and by driving up the national debt, he sullied his presidency. He did not seek re-election.

George Herbert Walker Bush failed to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq during the Gulf War. Also, he failed to vigorously address a flagging US economy. His defeat in the 1992 election followed.

Getting rid of Saddam Hussein is an excellent idea provided there is reasonable proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, but President George W. Bush wants to invade Iraq while both the US economy and other key world economies lack robustness, while the national debt is growing, while the worldwide War on Terrorism is ongoing, while the situation in Afghanistan is far from stable, while Israel and the Palestinians are locked in violence and while other world leaders are not supportive (yet) of a move to war.

Is it possible that President Bush and those clamoring for a rush into a war with Iraq are not mindful of the "lessons of history" inherent in paragraphs one through four?

Respectfully,

Hal Mansfield, 1138 C. R. 302, Durango, 81303-8050 970.259.1324