Well, as much as I hate to say it, Bush is right. There are clear parallels between Iraq and Vietnam. Not, of course, the ones he's attempting to draw, but there are some very obvious similarities between the conflicts that 'the decider' just doesn't get. As a matter of fact, he got it exactly wrong.
I was at Take Back America in 2006, when Sen Kerry gave an incredible speech about the importance of dissent and the truth, about being wrong and about making things right. Parts of that speech keep coming back to me as the war in Iraq slogs on with no end in sight. I was fascinated by the honesty and the emotion of this speech, and from the reaction of the crowd, I wasn't alone. Here, the Senator describes the real tragic similarities between Vietnam and Iraq.
I'll take the word of the one who was actually there.
For a long time, we've been told that Iraq and Vietnam were different. But in telling and very tragic ways now, they are converging.They are, first and foremost, together the two most failed foreign policy choices in the annals of American foreign policies.
And as in Vietnam...
(APPLAUSE)
And as in Vietnam, we intervened militarily based on official deception.
As in Vietnam, we went into Iraq ostensibly to fight a larger global war under the misperception that the particular theater was just the latest battleground. And we soon learned that the particular aspects of the place where we were fighting mattered more than anything else.
And as in Vietnam, we have stayed and fought and died even though it is time for us to go.
(APPLAUSE)Half of those -- let me remind you, and while you're here in Washington, take a moment to walk down to the Vietnam War Memorial, if you haven't done it.
As you walk down that path into the center of the V and you stand in the V, you can look up one end and you'll see 1960 -- earlier, 1959 -- all the way through parts of 1968, and then the other side of the wall brings us toward the end.
And half the names on that wall, half the names -- stand in the center of it and look up at tens of thousands of young Americans -- half the names on that wall were lost after America's leaders knew and later acknowledged our strategy would not succeed.
It was immoral then and it is immoral now to be quiet or equivocal in the face of that kind of delusion.
(APPLAUSE)
I watched in shock and awe as a delusional President Bush on TV yesterday attempted to connect Iraq with Vietnam in a way that was both historically inaccurate and shocking in its conclusions, as well as conflating the war in Iraq with the attacks on Sept 11, despite the fact that he was long ago forced to admit that there was and is no connection between the two.
"I stand before you as a wartime President. I wish I didn't have to say that, but an enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, declared war on the United States of America."
I watched as a delusional President Bush claimed credit for increasing healthcare for veterans, even though it's his war that's resulted in the need to tend their wounds, even though healthcare costs have skyrocketed under his administration, and even though he's repeatedly cut the proposed budget for veterans' care.
"We agree that health care for our veterans is a top priority, and that's why we've increased health care spending for our veterans by 83 percent since I was sworn in as your President."
I watched as a delusional President Bush prop up an ineffective leader in Iraq just a day after he admitted Maliki is not doing enough.
"Prime Minister Maliki is a good guy, a good man with a difficult job, and I support him."
Please. The purpose of the 'surge' was to allow the Iraq government some space to work out a political solution. There has been no political progress, unless you count their agreement to take an August vacation while our troops and the Iraqi people are suffering and dying. So, what's the excuse this time to add to the long list of bogus reasons for us to stay?
I will credit Bush for having the nerve to speak to a bunch of veterans, many of whom actually fought in a war in which he was too afraid to serve, and rewrite the history they lived. It takes guts. No brains, but guts. Guess he can afford them now that he's too old to put them to good use.
Today, Senator Kerry responded to Bush's speech
“Invoking the tragedy of Vietnam to defend the failed policy in Iraq is as irresponsible as it is ignorant of the realities of both of those wars,” Senator Kerry said. “Half of the soldiers whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after the politicians knew our strategy would not work. The lesson is to change the strategy not just to change the rhetoric. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our brave soldiers can’t bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq’s leaders are unable or unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires. No American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi politicians refuse to resolve their sectarian and political differences."“It is unfortunate that President Bush would want to invoke a false comparison of Vietnam to Iraq, but not surprising that he would oversimplify the differences and overlook the tragic similarities. As in Vietnam, we engaged militarily in Iraq based on official deception. As in Vietnam, more American soldiers are being sent to fight and die in a civil war we can’t stop and an insurgency we can’t bomb into submission. If the President wants to heed the lessons of Vietnam, he should change course and change course now.”
WaPo has a few other reactions.
Hey, Mr. Bush,
"War is no excuse for its own perpetuation." - John Kerry
Comments (6)
Posted by Kerryvisionary | August 23, 2007 11:40 AM
Scathing and accurate assessment, Faith. JK's speech at TBA 2006 was indeed spoken from the heart and wisdom born of experience of someone who was there, who saw his comrades die and came home to tell the truth about the policy and the war that abused their service and robbed them of their future, long after it was known at the highest levels that that policy was wrong for America.
A thoughtful and substantive post and it's refreshing to see and hear that speech again as we approach another opportunity in September to change our course to something that makes sense in terms of saving American and Iraqi lives and supporting real, political progress in the region.
It's also heartening to see from his statement yesterday in reaction to Bush's, as you say, delusional speech to the VFW, that he is still telling the truth, still fighting to bring the troops, his comrades as a veteran, home safely, still working to change our policy to one that befits American ideals, not one that reflects the stubborn heedlessness of an Administration led by a man who never served and has never cared to try to understand the nature of service.
Posted by wisteria | August 23, 2007 11:51 AM
This is a great post Faith. I love the headline and the from there, the entire post packs quite a punch.
Posted by Karen van Hoek | August 23, 2007 12:41 PM
This is a great post. JK's TBA speech was an awesome "prebuttal" to the nonsense that Bush came out with yesterday, and the points you made about Bush's lies and delusions are excellent.
Posted by Connie | August 23, 2007 5:56 PM
Excellent post, Faith. These inept republicans don't realize it, but they are about to prove that John Kerry was right about Viet Nam all those years ago, and he was right when he put forth his plan for exiting Iraq at Georgetown almost two years ago. For all those right wingers who have been carrying a hate deep within them for JK over his anti Viet Nam war speech, they will now see that his stand was the honorable thing to do. He was a hero then, as he will be proven to be now. The month of September is shaping up to be a memorable one, I hope. And I simply love that Moveon.org and JK are aligning to end this war. The people are willing to act.
Posted by ProSense | August 23, 2007 9:04 PM
This was an excellent speech. Classic! Senator Kerry could have given it today in rebuttal to Bush's history deficient Vietnam (or was it Iraq, Japan or Korea) speech.
Tragically, the soldiers and Iraqis are the ones paying with their lives for Bush's deception and failed formula.
Posted by karennj | August 27, 2007 10:42 AM
Wow - Thanks for your thoughtful post and the link to that video. That speech sounds even better than it did than I remembered it. It is a brilliant counter to Bush's strange view that 10 years and more bombs than in all WWII were insufficient and that the problem was that we left.
Hearing this also makes me understand while a person of lesser character worked so hard to get him out of race for 2008. The waves of applause to his heart felt comments show an enthusiasm I really don't see for the officially designated front runner - who couldn't give this speech if her life depended on it.