ViceZilla’s Views

During his speech today in Kansas City at the VFW convention (Veterans of Foreign Wars), Bush used Vietnam as an excuse to keep US troops in Iraq.

Mr. Bush accused the Congress of planning to “pull the rug out from under” American troops. He said the American pullout from Vietnam more than 32 years ago was to blame for millions of deaths in Cambodia and Vietnam, and for putting a dent in American credibility that lasts to this day.

“The question now before us comes down to this,” he said. “Will today’s generation of Americans resist the deceptive allure of retreat, and do in the Middle East what veterans in this room did in Asia?”

Firstly, let me ask how dare Bush address the Veterans of Foreign Wars about the Vietnam war, and the supposed lessons learned, when he used his family connections to pull all the strings he could to get him from serving in the same war he talks about? Click here for what his war record consisted of.So Mr. Bush is now using the lessons of Vietnam to bolster support for keeping troops in Iraq. Obviously Bush has a very short memory, so let’s remind him of some of the things he’s said in the past about war.

1: A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam: When America uses force in the world; the cause must be just, the goal must be clear and the victory must be overwhelming. Source

2: The Republican presidential front-runner also says he learned “the lesson of Vietnam.” “Our nation should be slow to engage troops. But when we do so, we must do so with ferocity. We must not go into a conflict unless we go in committed to win. We can never again ask the military to fight a political war.” Source

3: QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, April is turning into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, and some people are comparing Iraq to Vietnam and talking about a quagmire. Polls show that support for your policy is declining and that fewer than half Americans now support it. What does that say to you and how do you answer the Vietnam comparison?

THE PRESIDENT: I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy. Look, this is hard work. It’s hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation’s interest. Source

“We’ll succeed unless we quit” seems to remain as Bush’s mantra, regardless of the supposed “lessons learned.” Watch the video as Keith Olbermann gives a history lesson to President Bush in 2006. Give him hell Keith!

Tags: Bush Administration, War in Iraq //