Hawk and Dove

The Long and Winding Road...to an Exit Strategy PassedaroundtheblogospherethisweekwasthefollowingexcerptfromaNew York Times article dated September 3, 1967. It was posted by Kevin Drum on his Political Animal blog on washingtonmonthly.com and was originally passed on to him by Tom Cleaver of Redress Press. U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote Officials cite 83% turnout despite Vietcong terror By Peter Grose, Special to TheNewYorkTimesWASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 3 — United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 percent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. . . . A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson’s policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional ­processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February. The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon government, which has been founded only on coups and power plays since November 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown by a military junta. TheVietnamWarwouldnotendfornearlyeightmoreyearswhen,onApril30,1975,thelastMarinesdepartedtheU.S.EmbassyinSaigon. Looking Out for You, Vast Left-Wing Conspirators “Liberal editorial pages such as TheNewYorkTimes,TheWashingtonPostand TheLosAngelesTimesall praised the [Iraqi] election. I mean, what else could they do and retain credibility? “Even far-left bomb-throwing Web sites like moveon.org were relatively subdued. In fact, only committed leftists like Bob Herbert of TheNewYorkTimesdared to continue the anti-Bush rhetoric just a day after the president won a major victory. “Internationally, the usual suspects, TheTorontoSun,TheLondonIndependent,the London Guardianand Al-Jazeera, continue their anti American propaganda. There is no hope for them.” —Bill O’Reilly, TheO’ReillyFactor,January 31