TERRIBLE PARALLELS OF WAR

BY DAN MILLER
June 1, 2006

"As ((insert country here)) forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater."

Is that George W. Bush talking about Iraqi forces?
No, that was Richard Nixon in 1969 talking about South Vietnamese forces.

What President Bush said recently was, "As Iraqi security forces stand up, coalition forces can stand down."

In the weeks ahead, we'll be hearing a lot about the frightening parallels between the two conflicts.... and there are many.

It's all eerily familiar.

The two wars (Vietnam & Iraq) are different.
Vietnam was a bigger, more costly war.... at least, at this point.
But both wars were ignited by erroneous intelligence.

Vietnam happened after false reports of enemy fire in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.

Iraq happened after false reports of weapons of mass destruction.
 
But the saddest part, obviously, is the toll on human life and sanity for Americans and Iraqis alike.

Members of the American military are a dedicated, honorable group.... trained for noble and worthwhile causes.
Most are confident this war in Iraq is the right thing to do.
But there are, among them, some who can no longer articulate what's expected of them in Iraq.
 
A good American marine is killed in Haditha, and the reaction by his comrades is to destroy the enemy close by.... the ones who did it.

The problem is.... nobody knows anymore who the enemy is.... nobody knows who did it.
There are too many potential enemies now.... and the list is growing.
Might it be those unarmed women.... or those old men.... or those young children?
After all, this is the city of Haditha, said to be a stronghold for insurgents.

In 1968, there was a place in Vietnam called My Lai.
If I remember correctly, battle weary Americans, who had lost all sense of why they were there (if they ever knew), also became participants in a haunting, vicious, criminal act that's beyond all logic and justification.

For the sake of our military men and women.... our country.... and the people of Iraq, let's pray we don't forget lessons learned long ago.

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