A number of readers took issue with my contention below that “The central role of America-hating kooks in the anti-war movement is why Vietnam went on for so long – what patriot was going to side with people like that?” One reader even awarded me the coveted “Lamest Corner Post Ever” prize for the comment.

I have to admit that I’ve always taken it as axiomatic that hurling bags of feces at the police was not the best way to build public support for getting out of Vietnam — while the analogy is imperfect, a comparison with the Korean War, when there was no anti-American anti-war movement, is telling. My point was that legitimate opponents of the Iraq War would make more headway if there were fewer anti-semitic, Kim Jong-il-loving fruitcakes making their case. (Here is a story in today’s paper on this very debate among opponents of the war, keyed to this weekend’s planned demonstration in Washington.)

But I’m always open to persuasion: Am I wrong that the anti-war movement prolonged the Vietnam War? Has anyone written about this elsewhere or done research on it?