[PornoDoggy]

The VC and the NVA never attacked outside of Southeast Asia - and while you can claim they internationalized the war by forays into Laos and Cambodia, who did what first is an arguement that fills libraries. They also were nominally tied to a state, and therefore much easier to target.

IMHO, AT THIS MOMENT the similarity of the situation of Vietnam to that of Iraq is tenuous at best (Afghanistan is an ox of a different color) ... but the longer U.S. troops remain in the country, and the more puppet-like the governing council appears the stronger that connection grows.

The extremists who argue that we should stay there, and/or in fact widen the war (Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran) will pour oil on that fire.

If the efforts of the governing council fail, and the U.S. is forced to intervene in a civil war (either because of the efforts of the terrorists or because of the inherent problems of Iraq), we will be in deep shit.

Add onto that the international nature of the backers of al Qaida and the improbability that they can be effectively taken on by the military, and you have what Senior Chief Trittle used to call "a cluterfuck of incalcuable magnitude."

Me personally ... I'm actively seeking out a decent book in English about the reasons for the French withdrawal from Algeria in the 50s, which lead to the fall of the 4th Republic, and brought DeGaulle back to power.

Just kinda wondering if we've stepped in a pile of shit we should have known to avoid, in a deja vu all over again kinda way.