Bush: Iraq Is Just Like Vietnam
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Posted by Michael Link on August 22, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Yes, this appears to be his message in a speech later today, in which he will defend his handling of the war in preparation of the September White House report by comparing it to the Vietnam War. It's an odd message for the White House, given the history. For that Josh Marshall has the details.
But even more, it's such a reversal from everything this administration has ever said about the subject. My favorite example, in April 2004 at a press conference:
Q 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.
Not only did he take issue with the analogy, but he added that those who use it aid the enemy.
In the past, he's argued against the comparison on numerous occassions, saying it's "a different situation" and there's no parallel.
His spokesman, Tony Snow, said the two are "not comparable." He continued, saying "I will let Americans tell you what their various lessons were from Vietnam. That's far too large a question for me to contemplate, let alone answer."
Yet that's exactly what President Bush is going to try to do it today. And he's going to do it in a way that completely ignores American history.
Some might even call that "revisionist."
Yes, this appears to be his message in a speech later today, in which he will defend his handling of the war in preparation of the September White House report by comparing it to the Vietnam War. It's an odd message for the White House, given the history. For that Josh Marshall has the details.
But even more, it's such a reversal from everything this administration has ever said about the subject. My favorite example, in April 2004 at a press conference:
Q 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.
Not only did he take issue with the analogy, but he added that those who use it aid the enemy.
In the past, he's argued against the comparison on numerous occassions, saying it's "a different situation" and there's no parallel.
His spokesman, Tony Snow, said the two are "not comparable." He continued, saying "I will let Americans tell you what their various lessons were from Vietnam. That's far too large a question for me to contemplate, let alone answer."
Yet that's exactly what President Bush is going to try to do it today. And he's going to do it in a way that completely ignores American history.
Some might even call that "revisionist."
