Bush's Vietnam comparison: does it stand up?

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From Times Online
August 22, 2007

We must not withdraw as we did from Vietnam, says Bush

(Hoang Van Cuong/Reuters)
A Vietnamese man is punched by an American while trying to grab a ride on the last US helicopter out of Saigon in 1975

Philippe Naughton and Sam Knight

President Bush warned Americans today that a US withdrawal from Iraq could produce a catastrophe similar to the one that cost hundreds of thousands of lives in south east Asia after US forces left Vietnam in 1975.

In a speech in Kansas City to an audience of veterans, many of whom fought in Vietnam, Mr Bush said that an early exit from Iraq would "pull the rug out" from under American troops just as their efforts are paying off.

But in drawing a parallel between Iraq and Vietnam — a parallel which his Admistration has always avoided — Mr Bush angered many political opponents, who immediately questioned the accuracy of the comparison.

The speech marked the start of an attempt by Mr Bush to regain the initiative on Iraq before the top military and civilian officials report to Congress next month on the progress of the war and Iraq's political progress...

Continued...

Rarely in American history has a sitting president appeared to be so delusionally distant from the truth of the actual facts on the ground.

The US can barely control the Green Zone; Basra is a mess; and Turkey keeps threatening to invade the area of Iraq where the PKK takes refuge.

If this is "progress", and/or "victory", will some one please enlighten me as to what "failure "looks like?

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Given that Iraq is currently a Police Action, any comparison is a fair comparison.

Did the South have "problems" after the US left Nam? Yes indeed they did.

With there be problems in Iraq once US troops leave? Yes there will.

The above statement is not to be viewed as support for Bush and the current strategy.

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I didn't care for liberal comparisons to Vietnam and I don't care for conservative comparisons. Iraq is not Vietnam.

However, the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq could be disastrous for Iraq and it needs to made public what the results could be. If that means comparing it to Vietnam as a reminder, then that's what should be done.

Isn't it a common liberal reply that "Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it"?

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I guess it depends on which lessons you learned from Vietnam.

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Quote:

Historian Robert Dallek, who has written about the comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam, accused Bush of twisting history. "It just boggles my mind, the distortions I feel are perpetrated here by the president," he said in a telephone interview.

"We were in Vietnam for 10 years. We dropped more bombs on Vietnam than we did in all of World War II in every theater. We lost 58,700 American lives, the second-greatest loss of lives in a foreign conflict. And we couldn't work our will," he said.

"What is Bush suggesting? That we didn't fight hard enough, stay long enough? That's nonsense. It's a distortion," he continued. "We've been in Iraq longer than we fought in World War II. It's a disaster, and this is a political attempt to lay the blame for the disaster on his opponents. But the disaster is the consequence of going in, not getting out."

source

If we had stayed in Vietnam yet longer; would President Bush had been shaking the President (?) of Vietnam's hand?

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/329/1031/320/d8leq1000.jpg

I don't think so.

Quote:

It seems to me that the lesson of the Vietnam War is we screwed up, we got beat, tens of thousands of Americans and millions of Vietnamese died but, hey, the sun still rises in the East, things got better, and thirty years later our President is shaking hands with the political heir of the guys who kicked our ass.

In other words, the emergence of a prosperous, peaceful Vietnam is a pretty strong argument for acknowledging the mistake we made in Iraq and, bluntly, succeeding by quitting.

source

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"The President's reference to the "killing fields" of Cambodia was equally controversial. It was quickly pointed out that the Khmer Rouge seized power only after a failed American bombing campaign brought down the previous Cambodian government." Mainstream American media will probably ley Bushie get away with this statement without pointing out our relationship with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge which contributed greatly to the killing fields. Most Americans probably dont wanna know the whole story anyway. Pol Pot and Kissinger on War criminality and impunity, by Edward S ...Coverage of the possible trial of PolPot for war crimes reveals with startling clarity the ideological biases and propaganda role of the mainstream media.
musictravel.free.fr/political/political3.htm - 26k

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Mr Bush if there is a lesson to be learnt from the Vietnam war it is "Don't go there!" Every time you open your mouth you put your foot in it, I believe you would make more sense by staying in bed and leaving sensible people to make political comment.
If you want some good advice I suggest you get out of Iraq and Afghanistan now, you didn't do too well in Vietnam and I am sure the American people don't need another debacle like that; go and fight your hundred year war on terror, and take the rest of the Bush clan with you, but for goodness sake leave the rest of the world out of it.

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Bush's Vietnam comparison: does it stand up?

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