History Means Nothing

I can envision a small cottage somewhere, with a lot of writing paper, a dog, and a fireplace and maybe enough money to give myself some Irish coffee now and then and entertain my two friends.
Richard Van de Geer, U.S. soldier, Richard Van de Geer was officially the last American to die in the Vietnam War (1959-1975); Time, Letter to a friend

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told troops stuck in Iraq on Christmas Eve that the U.S. will prevail over insurgents. Still he believes the United States is not stuck in a quagmire.

Rewind
*At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the Allies (the coalition of the victorious nations in World War I, including Britain and France) made Iraq (the territory encompassing the three former Ottoman vilayets of Mosul, Baghdād, and Al Başrah) a Class A mandate entrusted to Britain.

Under the mandate system, a territory that had formerly been held by Germany or the Ottoman Empire was placed nominally under the supervision of the League of Nations, and the administration of the mandate was delegated to one of the victorious nations until the territory could govern itself.

Class A mandates were expected to achieve independence in a few years. In April 1920 the Allied governments confirmed the creation of the British mandate in Iraq at a conference in San Remo, Italy. In July 1920, when the Iraqi Arabs learned of the decision, they began an armed uprising against the British, then still occupying Iraq. The British were forced to spend huge amounts of money to quell the revolt, and the government of Britain concluded that it would be expedient to terminate its mandate in Mesopotamia. *Encarta Reference Library.

Back to the Present
"There's no doubt in my mind this is achievable," Rumsfeld told troops in Mosul, where he visited some wounded in the bombing, according to the New York Times. He criticized those he called "the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done, and that we're in a quagmire here," saying there have always been skeptics who have second-guessed military campaigns. He told soldiers that "the task you have is not to create a country, but to create an environment so that they can do it on their own."

The Misanthrope wants to know whose family will have to receive the infamous distinction from the absolutely unnecessary war in Iraq that the Van de Geer’s are burdened with?