Opinion: In today’s pages
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Former secretary of State Henry Kissinger remembers lessons from Vietnam:
A point was reached during the Vietnam War when the domestic debate became so bitter as to preclude rational discussion of hard choices. Administrations of both political parties perceived the survival of South Vietnam as a significant national interest. They were opposed by a protest movement that coalesced behind the conviction that the war reflected an amorality that had to be purged by confrontational methods. This impasse doomed the U.S. effort in Vietnam; it must not be repeated over Iraq.
And, for the sake of Lindsay Lohan, writer Eric Lucas remembers lessons he learned when he was a ‘booze-and-drug-addled lunatic.’ Contributing editor Max Boot explains what’s behind a recent string of firings in the Navy.
The editorial board weighs in on Bush’s nomination of Robert B. Zoellick for the World Bank presidency, and asks the Supreme Court to be more realistic in its discrimination rulings. The board also wants more marijuana for medical research.
On the letters page, Brea’s Jack Jansen sums up why Iran needs oil: ‘[A]s the world’s oil runs out and international order deteriorates, small nations with oil will be put in peril by big nations attempting to secure their supply of oil.’
Online, editorial writer Michael McGough claims we’re all Alberto Gonzales, and Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, answers an op-ed that attacked her and her publication. This week’s dust-up continues with Tom Tanton and Judy Dugan debating whether government should step in to regulate gas prices and profits.