The White Man's Burden

Pretty good post on the parallels between Afghanistan and Vietnam by Ray McGovern. He starts off with a little Kipling. I'm surprised it's taken so long for the big writers to invoke him.

It is not wise for the Christian white
To hustle the Asian brown;
For the Christian riles
And the Asian smiles
And weareth the Christian down.

At the end of the fight
Lies a tombstone white
With the name of the late deceased;

And the epitaph drear,
A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East.

Whether we're trying to conquer them or help them, it will end the same.

By the way, I caught part of Dr. Brzezinski's address on C-Span that Mr. McGovern refers to. I thought it was common sense and realpolitik, but then I respect him and agree with him a lot. Mr. McGovern does not.