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From the Washington Post of 23 July 2006:

In Iraq, Military Forgot Lessons of Vietnam
On May 16, 2003, L. Paul Bremer III, the chief of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-run occupation agency, had issued his first order, "De-Baathification of Iraq Society." The CIA station chief in Baghdad had argued vehemently against the radical move, contending: "By nightfall, you'll have driven 30,000 to 50,000 Baathists underground. And in six months, you'll really regret this."

He was proved correct, as Bremer's order, along with a second that dissolved the Iraqi military and national police, created a new class of disenfranchised, threatened leaders.

Exacerbating the effect of this decision were the U.S. Army's interactions with the civilian population.

Some here in the Cellar insisted that Iraqis welcomed Americans. When that Saddam statue was brought down, those in denial refused to acknowledge a damning fact - almost no Iraqis in the street because Americans were not welcome. The fact did not jib with their propaganda. So they falsely insist the majority of Iraqis still feared to be in the streets. Instead they believed the George Jr / Rush Limbaugh lies. Few Iraqis were in that plaza pulling down Saddam's statue because:

Few U.S. soldiers seemed to understand the centrality of Iraqi pride and the humiliation Iraqi men felt in being overseen by this Western army. Foot patrols in Baghdad were greeted during this time with solemn waves from old men and cheers from children, but with baleful stares from many young Iraqi men.

How deep is denial of reality then as it remains today within the mental midget president?

Complicating the U.S. effort was the difficulty top officials had in recognizing what was going on in Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at first was dismissive of the looting that followed the U.S. arrival and then for months refused to recognize that an insurgency was breaking out there. A reporter pressed him one day that summer: Aren't you facing a guerrilla war?

"I guess the reason I don't use the phrase 'guerrilla war' is because there isn't one," Rumsfeld responded.

Senior U.S. intelligence officers in Iraq later estimated that about 85 percent of the tens of thousands rounded up were of no intelligence value. But as they were delivered to the Abu Ghraib prison, they overwhelmed the system and often waited for weeks to be interrogated, during which time they could be recruited by hard-core insurgents, who weren't isolated from the general prison population.

How easy do we recruit for the insurgency? We even tortured and called that good. Some in the Cellar even deny anything wrong with toture. Deja vue. We now see what torture caused - another problem directly traceable to the George Jr administration that openly advocates both torture and extraordinary rendition. These are crimes worthy of impeachment.

That summer, retired Marine Col. Gary Anderson, an expert in small wars, was sent to Baghdad by the Pentagon to advise on how to better put down the emerging insurgency. He met with Bremer in early July. "Mr. Ambassador, here are some programs that worked in Vietnam," Anderson said.

It was the wrong word to put in front of Bremer. "Vietnam?" Bremer exploded, according to Anderson. "Vietnam! I don't want to talk about Vietnam. This is not Vietnam. This is Iraq!"

This was one of the early indications that U.S. officials would obstinately refuse to learn from the past as they sought to run Iraq.

Deja Vue Vietnam. I was posting it how long ago? Long before we 'Pearl Harbored' Iraq. Anyone want to acknowledge how predictable this all was because someone first learned history - ie read the Pentagon Papers?

Is Iraq in civil war? Priniciples from previous civil wars to define when that war started now exist in Iraq. Only time will tell whether Iraq gets worse because we invaded iraq as Israel invaded Lebanon. An invasion justified by lies at the highest level of government, without a strategic objective, and therefore has no exit strategy. Deja vue Vietnam.