Many of the Iraqi soldiers honorably surrendered to U.S. forces, just as Gen. Robert E. Lee’s soldiers did. Many of the former Iraqi soldiers, after surrendering honorably, have formed paramilitary groups, just as many of the former Confederate soldiers did.

Did Reconstruction in the southern states fail or succeed, and did sending federal troops help or hinder reunification? Should U.S. forces continue to surge in Iraq so that we can help the new Iraqi government win the peace? What can we learn about Reconstruction and how soon can we learn it? Time is of the essence.

Until we resolve the Confederate flag issue with clarity and unity, we will never begin to learn the lessons of the Civil War (pre-war, war, and post-war). It’s time to put our country first. It’s time to take down the Confederate flag.

The period following the civil war was not as cut and dry as you tend to believe and wish to portray. It was a time of northern oppression, opportunistic carpetbagger terrorism, and the desolation of the southern states within the U.S. Yes, the Confederacy did lose the war. However, there was no eutopia of northern ideals that struggled against post war rebellious ex-confederates within the Klan as you believe (and most of America today believes). The Klan that you recognize from the 20th centure does not mirror that organized during the years directly following the war. I am against the bigotry and hatred that the Klan stand for by all means. However, once one truly researches the pre-war, war, and post-war periods it can be seen that the lines within the issues that you try to present within this blog tend to blur.