Iraq:Vietnam or Iraq:?

There have been many comparisons to the Iraqi War and Vietnam. We are fighting a guerilla war with the endless stream of bad news coming in from the front onto our televisions and web-browsers. As I read Mackubin Owens article in the National Review Online I was struck by the similarities of one of mankind's early modern wars, the Second Boer War (1899-1902).

The war was precipitated by the discovery of gold in the Boer republic of Transvaal. British colonist began to pure into Transvaal. The Boer worried that the influx of British would erode their sovereignty they defended in the First Boer War (1880-81). Heavy taxes were levied on the gold industry (and British mining companies that were mining the metal) and the uitlanders (British citizens living in the Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange-Free State) were denied voting rights. With the failed 1887 coup d'etat against the Boer government, sponsored by Cecil Rhodes, the tensions between Britain and the Boer grew. The tension snapped when the Boer republics declared war and made a preemptive strike against Cape Colony and Natal.

The first year of the war was a conventional war. The Boer militia (known as commandos) had early success and besieged several towns. Once Britain overcame the initial shock they began a counter-offensive and routed the Boers. Then came two years brutal guerilla war.

Owens postulates that guerillas can only be successful, in the long run, if they work in concert with a conventional force. He gives Napoleon's Spanish incursion of 1810. The French had to worry about Wellington and could not effectively fight the Spanish guerillas. He said the same of Vietnam. The Viet Cong worked in concert with the North Vietnamese Army.

After the collapse of conventional resistance the Boers had no regular army to occupy British commanders and the British developed tactics to fight the commandos on the veld.

The same is going on in Iraq. While Syria, Iran, and other countries maybe supporting the insurgents with money, volunteers, and arms, no nation wants to offer their military as target practice to keep the Americans busy. As it took Britain two years to quell the Boers, it will take time to defeat the terrorists in Iraq. The question is who has the greater will, the Islamo-fascists or the United State public?