On "Syria as Cambodia"

For context on the emerging comparison of Syria to Cambodia during Vietnam, see this post from yesterday.

In the comments of that post, Somadude(The Obfuscation Report) pointed out that there was a discussion of this over at DailyKos in the diaries. I did a search of the site for "Syria Cambodia" and it came back 0 entries, but I'm not sure if that search includes the diaries.

So, I did something I rarely do, I actually did a little research. Going through Googlenews(not the best, but the easiest since I don't have Lexis/Nexis), the first mention of this Syria as Cambodia idea, did indeed come from that New York Times article, but as the search showed, even beyond reprints of that particular article, the idea is beginning to be repeated in articles both for attacking Syria and against.

Curiously, I had forgotten that there was also a comparison of the leaders of the Syria and Iran with the great mass murderers of history, Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, in the "major terrorism speech" Bush gave on October 6. Not directly related, but this is the first parallel of any kind I can find comparing Syria and Cambodia. (Interestingly, if you go to the whitehouse site, and look under President Bush - speeches this "major terrorism speech" is not listed. Guess it wasn't so major. It was on the site, but wasn't easy to find. Thanks to the moderate voice for the link to the transcript.)

Research is hard work. So, don't expect me to do it too often. - Mike

Update: Rice Says Syria Must Be Held Accountable - for the death of Hariri. Not directly on topic, but in the general area of reasons to attack Syria.