President Bush uses Vietnam as an excuse to stay in Iraq

President Bush plans to give a speech today (Wednesday) in Kansas City on why he plans to keep the United States mired in Iraq, and he will claim he is doing this because of the "lessons" of Vietnam.

He also plans to make a shock argument that withdrawing from Vietnam has helped "emboldened" today's terrorists by compromising U.S. credibility. Obviously, he cites a quote from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden saying the American people would rise against the Iraq war the same way they rose against the war in Vietnam, according to the excerpts. I would not even be surprised if bin Laden used Korea as an example, Bush would use that as a further excuse to stay in Iraq.

The White House has done this in order "to broaden" our excuse to maintain or perhaps increase U.S. involvement. President Bush also plans to use other historical comparisons such as the U.S. defeat and occupation of Japan after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s.

First, it seems strange enough for Bush to blame former President Richard Milhouse Nixon for his decision to withdraw American troops from South Vietnam. I guess because he is now dead, Bush does not have to worry about the former President taking a potshot back at him. It also shows the President using historical precedent only when it favors his arguments. But come on here, why blame Nixon for your failures? I kinda figure that Bush could blame his father for not finishing the job in Iraq during the first Gulf War.

In this case, leave the dead out for Bush's sorry excuses.

By the way, Vietnam did implement market reforms after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1994, the U.S. ended its embargo and the two countries finally established normal diplomatic and trade relations in 1995. It is now the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, and its two-way trade is larger than China and India. It is one of the world's most fastest growing economies. It is predicted that Vietnam will become a developed country by 2020 and become the 16th richest in the world by 2050.

For Korea, it was to stop the Communist invasion not terrorists. For Japan, it was a defeated nation, not a bunch of terrorists. Besides, the U.S. occupation forces did not have to deal with multiple factions, religious fanatics, IEDs, suicide bombings, and what not.

What's next? Start blaming the American people for electing the Democrats to take over Congress because it has "embolden" the terrorists to increase their attacks? Start blaming the tax cut opponents for bin Laden's ability to escape capture?

Please stop using fear to scare the American people.

Come to think of it, if Bush was President during the Vietnam conflict, he would have heralded the transformation of the United States into a dictatorship and spark a new war with China and the Soviet Union.