Letter: Bush determined to pass along failed policy

Friday, Feb. 16, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

Let's see if we have this right: Despite the conclusions at which the current congressional debate may arrive, America's decider in chief will forge ahead with a troop surge.

The continuation of this arrogant policy makes a few things quite clear.

First, that U.S. leadership is ignoring the lessons of Vietnam history, where troop surges by the early '70s brought our numbers to more than half a million. Second, that the fear of the spread of communism in the region during the Vietnam era has morphed into the fear of the spreading of radical Islam in the region of the Middle East and that, as some Republicans have expressed, the terrorists will "follow us home" if we were to leave.

What has become abundantly clear is that George Bush is determined to keep the conflict going until he leaves office, leaving the Democrats to inherit a failed Middle East policy because they will have to decide to withdraw troops. Whereas, in Bush's terms, had we had the will to stay, the war could have been "won." It's about as cynical and insidious as any leadership policy could be, but what else is there to believe when winning in Iraq has been so vaguely defined?

John H. Esperian, Las Vegas