Dangerous Defeatism

Beyond the News
By Hugh Hewitt

Walter Cronkite has emerged from his retirement this week to demand that America leave Iraq. "It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite told reporters at a meeting of the Television Critics Association. He offered the need to focus on recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina as an excuse to cover our retreat.

This disastrous advice is an echo of Cronkite's famous declaration that Vietnam could not be won in 1968, though of course peace was secured in that country only to be forfeited later when Congress refused aid to our South Vietnamese ally, and millions died in the resulting carnage in Southeast Asia, and millions more fled or were imprisoned.

The same result would follow in Iraq and the Middle East generally if America were to follow Cronkite's advice to again cut and run.

The avuncular and familiar Cronkite should stick to sailing as he heads towards 90. His advice a generation ago was disastrous for the world. He should not be indulged a second time simply because we are obliged to treat our elders with respect.