General Paul Eaton Speaks About Bush Using Vietnam to Defend The Occupation of Iraq

I almost fainted when I heard Bush making this argument last week.

I think that anyone seeking the Presidency should be required to have a basic understanding of history & international affairs before they can even launch their campaign for the job.

Approximately 6 months ago Bush rejected arguments that Iraq was another Vietnam. However, as a way to defend the occupation, Bush now all of a sudden wants to use Vietnam as an example for staying in Iraq, saying that if the U.S. leaves Iraq, the aftermath could be like Post- U.S. Vietnam. But if you go back and look at history, the original argument for staying in Vietnam was that if the U.S. left, other governments in Asia would fall like dominos to Communism. However, after the U.S. exited, this domino effect of course never happened.

Bush is saying that thousands would die in Iraq.... this may or may not be true... But this is the case with any country in a Civil War and that wants to eject occupiers. Vietnam was in the midst of settling a civil war that we got into the middle of. They had already ejected the French and had no interest in allowing their country to be occupied.The U.S. only made the civil war worse there by prolonging an delaying it. This probably caused more civilian deaths than would have occurred if the U.S. had not occupied South Vietnam.

The same thing is happening in Iraq.... there probably would be civil war there if the U.S. pulled out... but there is a civil war now. But who's to say how bad this would be? I think the first thing that you would see if the U.S. withdrew would be an effort by Iraqis to get rid of Al Qaeda once and for all. I see this happening before Iraqis would turn on one another.

Then there are the fundamental differences between Iraq and Vietnam that immediately came to mind... General Eaton wasted no time pointing them out.

This reminds me of the comparison that Bush & Co. made between Post war S. Korea and Iraq. Now they are using Vietnam. Once again, there is very little comparison between the two in terms of the "Post war" situation. Although the insurgencies are similar.



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