The High Price of Naivete

By David Aikman

As Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again."

Those of us old enough to recall the protests of the sixties against the Vietnam War will never forget one slogan constantly used. It was, "Stop the war."

The protesters who thought up this chant gave the impression that if the U.S. simply walked away from Vietnam and Cambodia, the war would stop. Well, America did walk away from both countries, but the war didn't stop. It went on until South Vietnam became a Communist dictatorship. Millions died while trying to flee in leaky boats and Cambodia became a genocidal nightmare.

Of course we have to leave Iraq sooner or later. But let no one make the mistake of thinking that this will stop the war. It won't. The Iraqi government knows it, and the Iraqi people will pay the price for our naivete.