Vietnam War Terms Creep Into U.S. Debate on Iraq

Vietnam War Terms Creep Into U.S. Debate on Iraq

(EXCERPT)

posted by Mary Shelley's Mutant Lovechild on Friday October 31 2003 @
03:47PM PST

Vietnam War Terms Creep Into U.S. Debate on Iraq, by Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The language of the Vietnam war has crept into
the U.S. debate on Iraq, with officials and pundits talking of
guerrilla warfare, pacifying the country, combating insurgents and
even how to leave with honor.

The trend has become particularly pronounced since Sunday's guerrilla
rocket attacks on the Baghdad hotel where U.S. Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying and Monday's four bombings that
killed at least 35 people near a Red Cross building and three police
stations in the Iraqi capital.

In an editorial on Wednesday, The Washington Post said the wave of
attacks "probably is intended to have the same effect as the 1968 Tet
offensive in Vietnam: to convince Americans that their troops are
committed to a losing cause and must withdraw -- even if, in military
terms, that is not the case.

"The attacks so far... like those of Tet, pose no strategic threat to
the U.S. military presence in the country; they also pale beside those
of 1968, which cost the lives of more than 3,800 U.S. servicemen and
14,000 Vietnamese civilians," it added. "Still, the bombings have
shocked Iraqis, intimidated some would-be allies and strengthened
doubts in Congress and the public about the Iraq mission."

Sandy Berger, national security adviser to former U.S. President Bill
Clinton, on Tuesday asked a question that long haunted U.S.
policy-makers on Vietnam: "Regardless of how we got here -- how do we
get out with honor and with integrity and with a result that is better
than what we started with?"

'SOMEWHAT P...

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Associate Librarian
The American War Library
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