The closing comments on the 1966 documentary "The Unique War" (click to see the 24 minute video in its entirety thanks to www.Public.Resource.org) produced by the U.S. Army Pictoral Center encapsulates the Obama administration's approach to Afghanistan. There's nothing new under the sun.
"From reservoirs of compassion and generosity we bring a spirit and a demonstration of friendship and these too become weapons as powerful as any other in this war which is a contest for the hearts and the minds of the people of Vietnam. They are weapons that will touch and stir the hopes of those through whose villages we travel. And when we pass on we'll leave a deposit of warm feelings behind. A demonstration of the people's new appreciation for us in any one village cannot perhaps be taken too seriously. It may not mean that the village has been secured forever - the war is not that simple - but we must not falter. We must continue until the enemy is convinced his aggression will not pay. And hand in hand with the fighting in Vietnam we must press ahead with the crucial task of helping to build a nation all the way to the heart and soul of the smallest hamlet."
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