Iraq Looks More Like Vietnam Every Day

I know the republicans don't want the comparison made, but I don't see how anyone can escape the fact that we've gotten ourselves into another Vietnam by invading Iraq. True, one was fought in the jungle and the other is being fought in a desert, but I really don't see any other differences. The similarities, however, are beginning to pile up:

1. We are trying to help a country that does not want our help. Most Vietnamese did not want us occupying their country, and it is the same in Iraq. In a poll of Iraqis taken a couple of months ago, nearly 70% said they would like for us to leave immediately. There is no reason to believe this has changed.

2. We can't tell our friends from our enemies. In Vietnam, many of the people who worked with us during the day became our enemy when night fell. The same is true in Iraq. CNN is reporting today that the deaths of two American soldiers on patrol was not due to an ambush, but to an attack by the Iraqi officers who were patrolling with them. This was not the first time uniformed Iraqi officers have fired on American troops. If we can't trust them while they're in uniform, how can we trust them when they're off duty.

3. We are fighting a war without a clear idea of why we are fighting and what we need to do to win. Just as in Vietnam, we have put our soldiers in a dangerous situation and now our leaders don't know what to do about it. All we are given by our leaders are vague generalizations. I'm afraid that's all they have given our soldiers too.

4. The lack of leadership at all levels has resulted in atrocities. This is what happens when you tell soldiers to do a vaguely-worded job, and then don't give tham the numbers, the tools, or the leadership to do the job. We have all heard about Haditha, where American soldiers murdered about 24 civilians, including women and children. But this is not the only case of American soldiers crossing the line. NPR tells us today that three soldiers of the 101st Airborne have been charged with murder for killing three prisoners last month near the town of Balad.

5. We cannot protect those we believe are on our side. We could not do it in Vietnam and we are not getting it done in Iraq. We cannot even protect those involved in our show-trial of Saddam. Yesterday, the lead defense attorney for Saddam was found murdered. This is his third attorney to be murdered since the show-trial began. No point in even talking about a fair trial in these conditions.

6. In both countries, we placed our soldiers in the middle of a civil war, and then tied their hands. In Vietnam, they could't attack across certain borders. In Iraq, it is even worse. Our soldiers are in the middle and we can't even pick a side, so we get attacked by both sides.

It is time to end this nonsense and bring our soldiers home. Call it "cut and run" if you want, but it is the right thing to do. GET OUR SOLDIERS OUT OF IRAQ NOW!!!