Please don’t call it the “War on Terror.” Terror is a tactic. Our fight is with Islamic fanatics who want us dead because they hate our freedom, our way of life and our religion. Wrapped in the righteousness of their god, they would happily slaughter us all and, in fact, intend to do exactly that. And they seem to be winning.

The political left in this country has often harkened back to Vietnam in describing our current challenge in Iraq. Conservatives like to argue that point, but I think the liberals are dead on. You see, Vietnam was a classic case of winning every battle — and losing the war.

US Armed Forces, on a noble mission to stop the spread of Communist totalitarianism in the region, experienced a total of 47,387 killed in action during the entire war. The enemy? Approximately 1,100,000 KIA - about a 23 to 1 kill ratio. Yet it’s widely believed by most Americans that we lost that military struggle.

We did lose the war, but we did not lose it in Vietnam. We lost it right here in America. We lost the will to win as the anti-war activists continually turned up the political volume. The tide really began to turn in 1968 after the Tet Offensive, a North Vietnamese operation designed to route and demoralize the Americans in country.

Whatever you may have heard, the Tet Offensive was a resounding defeat for the North Vietnamese. In the two month operation, the NVA suffered 45,000 KIA. USA losses totaled about 1,500 KIA, making it one of the more outstanding tactical successes of the entire Vietnamese conflict for US forces.

Somehow, the political left in this country successfully, yet dishonestly, sold the Tet offensive as a major defeat — and thus it became the turning point of the war politically and began the process that ended with our eventual loss of South Vietnam — and the slaughter of millions.

The American public believed the Vietnam War was lost militarily, that it was a hopeless quagmire, when nothing was further from the truth.

Beginning to sound familiar?

When we departed Vietnam, even cutting off military supplies and funding to the South Vietnamese to whom we had pledged ongoing support, the world was watching and learning. You can’t beat America on the battlefield. You can surely beat her at home. The American left is your strongest ally.

When our forces were ordered to scurry out of Mogadishu after the Blackhawk Down debacle, the world, including Osama Bin Laden was watching and learning. The kill rate in that Somalian skirmish was better than 100-1 in favor of US forces, yet you’d have thought we had our butts kicked. We were winning — until we cut and ran.

We’ve never lost a fire fight in Iraq. We’ve won every battle. And we are damn close to losing the war just as we did in Vietnam. While the brave men on the ground fight to win, the political left in this country is bound and determined that we will lose.

And this is where Iraq is so very different than Vietnam. The North Vietnamese never had the means or the desire to come to America and kill us. When we lost there, it was over. When we lose in Iraq — it’s just the beginning.

— Editor