Here they go again! Pundits who six months ago could not find Manila (much less Mindanao) on a map are now busily proclaiming the Philippines to be "the next Afghanistan" … except, of course, for those who are busy proclaiming it "the next Vietnam." They are being joined in the Philippines by "the Americans are coming" crowd who are frantically proclaiming that U.S. Special Forces’ assistance to Philippine military forces fighting insurgents in the south constitutes an attack, not on terrorism, but on Philippine sovereignty. It’s time for these folks to get a grip on reality.