Ramadan, 2006::Tet, 1968?
Back in February I wrote a post after a Sunni bombing of a Shi'ite holy site. In it I wondered if this was the beginning of a slide into a Vietnam like insanity similar to the Tet Offensive of Winter, 1968. In recent weeks I have come to see more and more signs of that happening.

One was on the evening news a couple weeks ago. I wasn't watching closely but I heard a soldier talking about one of the difficulties of fighting in Iraq. He said, in essence, they never know who the enemy is. The person pushing a cart down the street could be an insurgent- an enemy. I did a deja vu head turn at that just to make sure it wasn't archival footage from Saigon.

Then listening on radio to a general or someone similar was also talking about one of the problems with our war in Iraq. He said, in essence, we don't know how to fight a counter-insurgency type war. Again, the echoes of the Mekong Delta came flooding out of the radio.

Last week, as October turned into one of the deadliest months for Americans in Iraq, and increasingly deadly for Iraqis in Iraq, as people said that this religious season of Ramadan has been a time of deadly attacks of Iraqi against Iraqi I was back in 1968. While there seems to be some movement and discussion in new ways in the past week as well, we still don't seem to understand this type of war. When the only way we know is to use a BIG hammer, then everything looks like a big nail to hit.

I pray that we will learn some newer, better, more appropriate ways to bring this war to victory. We need a way that can win the hearts and minds of the people we are seeking to bring into democracy. If we can't do that, we are in more trouble than we think.

Pray for peace.