Pinthouse Pizza
In Essence, Iraq Is Vietnam
RECEIVED Fri., Feb. 17, 2006
Dear Editor,
“We have to fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.” Bush on Iraq, right? Sure, but also Johnson on Vietnam.
Johnson lied about a minor naval incident to coerce Congress into passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in which Congress relinquished its constitutional duty to declare, or not declare, war. Bush lied more boldly than Johnson about WMD and a nonexistent al Qaeda/Iraq connection, maneuvering Congress into committing a similar constitutional error.
Johnson printed money to finance the war, leading to rampant inflation. Bush finances his war by mortgaging our children's futures. Neither has the guts to raise taxes to do it.
Chicken hawks in both eras, with no skin or kin in danger from a foreign war, supported and benefited from the war while shaming and blaming those Americans with the guts to stand up against it. Their rhetoric is indistinguishable if you substitute “terrorist” for “communist.”
After fully engaging in Vietnam, the worst mistake the U.S. made was to escalate and remain. In the end, 57,363 Americans were needlessly dead. Even though well over 50% of Americans now concede that invading Iraq was a mistake, few in power have the guts to tell us the truth and call for withdrawal. The truth is, every American life lost in Iraq, from the beginning to the bitter end, is lost needlessly. In essence, Iraq is Vietnam.
“We have to fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.” Bush on Iraq, right? Sure, but also Johnson on Vietnam.
Johnson lied about a minor naval incident to coerce Congress into passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in which Congress relinquished its constitutional duty to declare, or not declare, war. Bush lied more boldly than Johnson about WMD and a nonexistent al Qaeda/Iraq connection, maneuvering Congress into committing a similar constitutional error.
Johnson printed money to finance the war, leading to rampant inflation. Bush finances his war by mortgaging our children's futures. Neither has the guts to raise taxes to do it.
Chicken hawks in both eras, with no skin or kin in danger from a foreign war, supported and benefited from the war while shaming and blaming those Americans with the guts to stand up against it. Their rhetoric is indistinguishable if you substitute “terrorist” for “communist.”
After fully engaging in Vietnam, the worst mistake the U.S. made was to escalate and remain. In the end, 57,363 Americans were needlessly dead. Even though well over 50% of Americans now concede that invading Iraq was a mistake, few in power have the guts to tell us the truth and call for withdrawal. The truth is, every American life lost in Iraq, from the beginning to the bitter end, is lost needlessly. In essence, Iraq is Vietnam.
Ben Hogue