A Turning Point?
It was late January, 1968. One of my fellow student newsmen/DJs at the college radio station walked into the office with a very distracted look on his face. "This is it," he said. "This is the beginning of the end." We all looked at him wondering what was on the piece of news teletytpe paper he was carrying.

"The War in Vietnam. We've just lost," he said.

The Viet Cong and North Vietnam had just launched what has come to be known as the "Tet Offensive" which, as my friend said, has often been seen as the turning point of the war. While there may be reasons why- or why not- this was the case, as it happened it was a shock and challenged much conventional wisdom. It may even have been the final straw that led to the growth of the anti-war movement and widespread dissatisfaction.

I had a deja vu feeling today that took me back those 38 years. At first it looked like just another terrorist attack in Iraq followed by riots:

Shrine blast prompts furious protests across Iraq

CTV.ca News Staff

Tens of thousands of furious protesters are staging demonstrations across Iraq on Wednesady after a bomb explosion badly damaged one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.
--CTV.ca

I have a hunch, and it is only a hunch, but real nonetheless, that this is a scary, turning-point type moment. The Sunni bombing of a holy site has set off Shiite riots and reactions. Just as the majority Shiites are trying to make a government. Even moderate Shiites are talking about what to do now that the American troops and Iraqi government have been seen as unable to protect them. They don't feel safe. How can we convince them? How can we win the hearts and minds?

That of course was one of the issues in Vietnam. We had a hard time figuring out the culture and ethnic and religious issues that were underlying he conflict. We thought we had their support just because we were American. It does not appear that we have learned from our past. I have a fear that gnaws deeply that the same is happening at the moment in Iraq. We don't understand the deep, profound impact of the religious and cultural divisions. We don't understand that just giving them the vote will mean that they will love us.

Have we just crossed the line into a new Vietnam? Dear God, I hope not. One was far too many. The men and women who have served in Iraq, those who have died and those who have shown the heart and soul of America in so many ways, deserve far more than that. For their sake someone has to figure out a better way than polemics and ideological bickering and posturing on both sides. Someone has to discover the ways to uphold and promote humanity and hope.

I wish I knew more about politics and military strategy so I could help find an answer. I pray that my gut-reactions and observations are wrong and that today was simply a bump in the road to peace and reconstruction in Iraq.

I will continue to pray, and pray deeply for peace, for wisdom on all sides, and for the many men and women from many places who are there doing what they have been called to do. And above all, I pray that the Prince of Peace my teach us all new ways (and many old ones, as well) that can help us understand how to be people of peace.