This is Obama's Vietnam

One thing nice about getting older is that you can have a sense of history. And memory.

But only if you paid attention the first time around.

Given the generally lousy educational system and given the short attention span afflicting so many, it's rare to find someone who knows history.

It hits you when you get that feeling that we've done this before.

It happened to me when I saw the Washington headlines that used the word advisers. Military advisers.

The official word from the man in the Oval Office is that this country will send 300 military advisers to Iraq.

To do what? Advise the Iraqis on how to quell the insurgency.

That's when memory kicked in.

Just like Vietnam!

It's Vietnam all over again, thanks to Obama.

You've probably heard of that war and its horrors and the inept handling of it and the losing of it.

Did you know it all really started for us (U.S.) when this country sent advisers there?

It wasn't a declaration of war; it was just advisers.

Uh-huh.

It ended nearly 10 years later with 58,220 Americans dead, more than 75,000 disabled, 2,338 MIA and 766 POWs.

Remember, those are just American casualty figures – and we lost that war.

For the World War II generation, which also endured the horrors of the Korean War – which Washington called "a police action" – the fact that Vietnam ended in a loss was more than painful.

To them it reflected what happens when politicians fancy themselves military tacticians and have the power to enforce their decisions.

I knew Obama would do it even though he has said, and continues to say, that American military will not be involved in combat in the horror that is Iraq today.

We all know he tells us the truth, and we can believe him.

We do know that, don't we?

This is not the Iraq of Bush; it's the Iraq of Obama, and it appears we're tiptoeing into the quagmire.

Just like Vietnam.

The headline today confirmed Barack Obama decided, after conferring with national security advisors, that this is the route to take. Not military intervention only advisors, in an effort to convince the government to share power with the insurgents.

What happens if they get shot at?

But Obama is the politician with decision-making power, which affects all of us. So in addition to 300 advisers, he's also sending Secretary of State John Kerry to use diplomacy to end the political stalemate.

Calling what's going on in Iraq a "political stalemate" is an understatement that will haunt us – but then again, since Kerry served in Vietnam – you knew that, didn't you? – he's an "expert" on diplomatic settlements.

It's strange to see Obama being super-cautious while the insurgents in Iraq are taking over the country, wantonly killing civilians and military, which they consider the "enemy" and, now, we're told, they've gotten control of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapon stockpile.

WAIT a minute.

Weren't we told that George Bush lied that there were such weapons in Iraq – and in fact, we never found them?

Now they say there are such weapons there?

Tell me again, who lied?

The liberals lie, the media swear to it, and American citizens are made the fools, except that our sons and daughters are the ones wearing the uniforms and are in harm's way.

I can't imagine what's going through the minds of our military men and women who fought and survived the war in Iraq – to say nothing of the families of those injured and killed.

I'm certain it's the same with those in Afghanistan. Our troops are there, supposedly in a war, but they're not allowed to really fight it because of the new rules of engagement and too often, they're the victims of the very people who are supposedly on our side and who we are supposedly helping.

On Thursday, word came of another roadside bomb that killed three American soldiers and a military dog.

What does the commander in chief do? He prides himself on deciding to arbitrarily "end the war" and bring everyone – well, mostly everyone – home on a certain date.

It's more blood on his hands.

Sorry Barack, all that does is allow the enemy – Taliban, insurgents or whatever you want to call them – the time to regroup and intensify their war as we pull out, leaving several thousand Americans as what? Advisers – to be sitting ducks again?

The Iraqis want American military force to beat back their attackers and even our European allies, to say nothing of many American military, agree.

But Obama decrees advisers.

How would you like to be one of them? Trained for war yet used as pacifiers for people who want force to be used.

Our troops see the headlines and know our war history but they have to listen to the political tripe spewing from the mouths of Democrats from the oval office on down, to say nothing of Republicans, who haven't the sense to see what they're doing to our troops, our country and the world.

Oh, we're told, the war is over. Our troops will come home.

Did we win?

Ooh, don't ask that. It just speaks to U.S. arrogance.

Let's just say we did what was needed, and now we are going home.

Thanks for your input, Obama.

Tell that to the families of the dead, lost in a war that made them sitting ducks for turncoat friends who hate our guts and want nothing more than to see every American dead.

With policies like these, we'll see more dead Americans and perhaps another Sept. 11.

What's been accomplished? Grief, death, injury, extraordinary costs in treasure and money and allies who don't trust us because of an administration seemingly favoring Islamists.

We fought in Iraq, suffered thousands of deaths and injuries, supposedly brought them democracy, sort of trained them, left millions in material and left.

Now it's starting all over again.

Washington is a ship of fools.

Follow Barbara Simpson on Facebook.

Media wishing to interview Barbara Simpson, please contact [email protected].