...Repeats itself

Joe gave me book called "Fire on the Lake" which is written about the Vietnam conflict (it didn't become a war until decades later). I am not very far into the book, but I see some similarities to things I have heard about Iraq. One thing that seems to be different, though, is the "justification." It is obvious that Vietnam (as the American gov't called it) didn't have the resources that Iraq does, namely oil. But it is similar in the fact that it is a strategic location. Noam Chomsky http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20030321.htm said in an interview shortly before the Iraq invasion and said that the true goal of America was Iran. Since hearing him say that, I have waited for the propaganda machine to start spewing kindling for just that fire. Little by little it has started to smolder. There are some other similarities with The Vietnam conflict, one being that we call it a country, when in actuality the region is made up of different groups with differing customs. Also, no surprise, Europe has tried to colonize the region and was met with heavy resistance. I am by no means an expert, but from what I do know, I see history repeating itself. My wacko barometer is my boss, Gary. His opinion is that people dying is the way things have always been and always will be. He says that nature will come up with a virus or disease that will wipe out much of the population at a whack, because we have rapid travel. Well, AIDS is nothing compared to the Nazis and the recent tsunami was nothing compared to the genocide going on in Africa. At least with nature, you're less likely to be raped, strangled, burned or dragged behind a truck. I know...it's so negative and we don't like to hear, but history is repeating itself, but with the lessons learned from the Nazis, the Vietnamese and the American civil war.
~J