Uncle Jazzbeau’s Gallimaufrey

recycling an old glossary

Dave Lindorff has written an article on some "new" terms to memorize for use during the current conflict in Iraq. (I see he's a fellow member of the National Writers Union.) Everything old is new again.

• Guerrilla war — An unconventional conflict, in which the enemy can hide among the people, popping out to fire on U.S. soldiers and ducking back before he or she can be challenged or identified. Are we in a guerrilla war in Iraq? Ask Don Rumsfeld. His denials are starting to sound like his claims before the war about WMD's: empty.
• Peace with honor — This was the semantic contortion that Richard Nixon attempted to use to disguise America's embarrassing defeat by the peasant army of Vietnam.
• The Draft — One big difference between the Vietnam War and the current war in Iraq is that during the decades of the Southeast Asian conflict, the U.S. had a draft, and consequently an almost unlimited supply of soldiers to throw into battle. The U.S. military now, which numbers about 1 million, is largely dependent for front-line combatants upon reservists and National Guardsmen.