lsanderson | Looking at the New York Times Headlines

To all of you too young or too dumb (Alzheimer's patient's excepted) to remember the Viet Nam war:

General Weighs 2nd Troop Shift to Calm Baghdad
By JOHN F. BURNS

BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 — The top American military commander in Iraq said Tuesday that it was possible he might need to call for an increase in American troop levels in Baghdad to reinvigorate a plan to recapture the capital’s streets from insurgents and death squads.

In a news conference held after a week of largely bad news from Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad sought to reassure an increasingly restive American public that the war was still winnable. More

When the Military and Politicians start saying "Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad sought to reassure an increasingly restive American public that the war was still winnable." you should always believe them. Please devote all of your tax money and young men and women to them, and maybe, just maybe, they'll win some war. Certainly they'll suck money out of your pocket and award it to military contractors. Certainly they'll advance their careers, and they'll kill lots and lots more people. There's a piece in Proust, WWI, where daily they read the French newspapers and see that the valiant French Army is defeating the invading German Army, yet each day the victory is closer to Paris.

Britain Hints at Iraq Pullout, U.S. Official Says
By REUTERS

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Reuters) — The British military wants to withdraw troops from Iraq within a year, and London wants to focus on the war in Afghanistan, a United States Defense Department official said Tuesday. More

Your erstwhile allies gradually determine that you are living in a fantasy world. They take their toys and go home to lick their wounds. Soon after there are helicopters landing on embassy roofs, but only after Victory!, sweet Victory! is announced. (This is to hide the fact that tails are firmly tucked between legs in the general rout.) As a commedian (SP?) once said on the Tonight Show, "Just announce Victory and get the hell out." Who knew a crazy president would eventually take that advice?

U.S. and Iraqi Forces Raid Stronghold of Shiite Militia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:56 a.m. ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces on Wednesday raided Sadr City, the stronghold of the feared Shiite militia led by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disavowed the operation, saying he had not been consulted and insisting ''that it will not be repeated.''

The defiant al-Maliki also slammed the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for their Tuesday press conference, at which they said Iraq needed to set a timetable to curb violence ravaging the country. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said al-Maliki had agreed. More

Then, less you think all is bleak,

Vietnam’s Roaring Economy Is Set for World Stage
By KEITH BRADSHER

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Nearly four decades ago, South Vietnamese leaders mapped out their battle plans inside the presidential palace here. When they lost the war, the palace became the base for the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, which worked to impose tight Communist control.

But in September it was the scene of a very different gathering: a board meeting of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.

In the three decades since Vietnam has gone from communism to a form of capitalism, it has begun surpassing many neighbors. It has Asia’s second-fastest-growing economy, with 8.4 percent growth last year, trailing only China’s, and the pace of exports to the United States is rising faster than even China’s.

American companies like Intel and Nike, and investors across the region, are pouring billions of dollars into the country; overseas Vietnamese are returning to run the ventures. More

Sooner or later, and a few million dead people, the world gets over it. Well, at least the survivors do.