RE: 'Beware of reasoning by historical analogy'

Dr. Tilford is quite correct in pointing out that Iraq is not Vietnam, and describes many examples of how these two conflicts are very different. What he fails to mention are the undeniable parallels. But any discussion of the Iraq war should be prefaced with admitting the six major mistakes and/or deceptions of the Bush administration regarding Iraq: there were no WMDs in Iraq; Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11; we are not seen as liberators; the Iraqi oil is not paying for the invasion, reconstruction and occupation; our gas prices are not lower as a result of the conflict; and the world is not a safer place.

The failure in Iraq is identical to that in Vietnam in this respect: we have no business being there in the first place. This is true no matter what the eventual outcome. In both cases we were pushed into a war based on misinformation and political ideology rather than the direct defense of our national security. Had we poured 130,000 troops into Afghanistan, sealed the borders, captured Osama bin Laden and the other al Qaeda leaders, the world could be a safer place — at a much smaller price in terms of lives and dollars. But the neo-cons choose to realize their longstanding goal of toppling Saddam Hussein rather than go after the people behind 9/11. The Islamic Jihadists have increased their numbers since our efforts in Iraq provide them with a training ground and the outrage has become the primary source material for their propaganda.

We are seen as an invading force and do not have the popular support of the people. A recent poll of Iraqis, as reported in the conservative Washington Times, shows that 80 percent want the US to get out of Iraq now and 45 percent say it’s justified to attack Americans. It’s the Iraqis’ conflict, it’s their oil, it’s their vision that needs to determine what goes on there, not ours.

“Winning” in Iraq presents the same problem as South Vietnam, in that the only way to have a secure and US-friendly government would be to install a dictator backed by our military. If and when there are truly free elections in Iraq, those who oppose the US will likely be elected. Theirs is a Muslim country that sees us as an invading Christian army whose only goal is to secure their oil for our consumption.