The political situation in Iraq, now and future

Michael Gove of The Times of London writes a well thought out analysis of the state of things in Iraq. Where the MSM starts to sound like Barney Fife whenever they talk about elections ("They've got guns, Andy!"), this article takes a sober look at the significant differences between the war in Iraq and the war in Vietnam. Some important excerpts:

There is a particular point at which knowledge appears to end and a huge black hole begins. It seems to occur somewhere in the 1960s. The specific event beyond which most commentators now find it difficult to see is the Vietnam War. It has become the dominant reference point for discussion of any current military campaign. The war to liberate Afghanistan had barely begun before sceptics were suggesting that a “Vietnam-style quagmire” loomed. And from the moment plans were laid to topple Saddam’s regime, cynics were certain that the Iraq war would lead, if not to Apocalypse Now, then to the quagmire to end all quagmires.

...

If the Iraqi elections due to be held in less than two weeks’ time are successful that will give the coalition something the Americans never enjoyed in Vietnam — a clear political victory. The insurgents will have been defeated in their principal aim, the denial of democracy. The Iraqi leaders most likely to emerge in pole position after the vote, such as the United Iraqi Alliance, have already made it clear that they will offer Sunnis senior positions in any new government. After 80 years during which they have been shut out of secular power the Shia leadership have no desire to assume their proper share in the control of Iraq, only to see the nation they inherit immediately fracture. There are, certainly, dangers ahead. But they lie, as so often in the Middle East, in erring on the side of the status quo.

Note in particular the phrase "will give the coalition something the Americans never enjoyed in Vietnam" (emphasis mine). This "minor" detail is one the MSM consistently ignore - that in Vietnam, we were basically alone, but here we are acting with many others.