You are missing the point , Michael. I am not advocating letting Bin Ladin slide. I am simply saying that a better effort needs to made in the process to apprehend him so that we can quickly end our involvement in the entire Middle Eastern fiasco. Bush has been going at it since 9/11...is this really the best that can be done?

You are certainly free to cast your vote as you see fit...Palin or whoever.

I would have to agree with the Vietnamese general's assessment of their determination to fight. One of the advantages was that they had no choice...they had no where else to go. I can recall one of my political science professors discussing the matter shortly after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. His comment was that Marx was wrong in his belief that national boundaries and cultural  differences would fade into a unification of the international proletariat. In fact it worked in reverse. Each nation put its own cultural spin on the form of communism it adopted. He compared Vietnam to what was then Yugoslavia which had a milder form of communism than either the Soviet or Chinese experiences. He indicated that the Vietnamese and Chinese had national hatreds that went back centuries. The only thing that held the Vietnamese, Chinese and Soviets together was the war and the need for defense. I can further recall how this professor advocated diplomacy rather than war in the hope that Vietnam may turn into another Yugoslavia. Well, here we are several decades later. Viet Nam is a communist nation, and somehow the Domino Theory never came to fruition...they are seeking normalization of relations with the U.S.

With respect to division at home concerning the war... Yes, there were a lot of disappointed people trying to make their wishes known to the government. Since protest was the only thing that seemed to get the attention of our elected officials they were simply exercising the rights to freedom of assembly and speech. Had there been an effort to respond to them and end the war more quickly... there probably would not have been such division.

I would have to disagree your analysis of Nixon getting us out of Viet Nam. He was elected in l968 on the platform of ending the war with honor. He indicated that he had a plan, but was reluctant to discuss it until after the election. His plan....slow (emphasis on slow) Vietnamization. The process began in l968. Saigon fell in l975...seven years later. Kind of hard to figure out what we were fighting for while watching American diplomats escaping from the roof of the American Embassy by helicopter. It is hard to imagine the Nixon administration doing anything to unite the people. I recall Spiro agnew calling them effete snobs. It kind of set the tone for uniting anyone.