Bush: "Iraq could be like Vietnam"
Bush in Vietnam warning over Iraq - BBC
Wow. This has to be one of the stupidest comparisons the President could have ever made. But, oh no, he didn't make the correct "quagmire" comparison.
The one his Vice President made in the early 1994.
He tries to make the ridiculous case that our WITHDRAWAL was the cause of untold deaths and misery for millions of lives. Never mind the many hundreds of thousands that died while we were trying to fight that "good" fight against the "Scourge of Communism" and it's steady march across the world.
Never mind that millions died in China and Russia under Communist dictators without any military intervention or action on our part. Never mind the hundreds of thousands dying in Darfur where apparently we have no vested economic interests.
No, no. Leaving Iraq now would create another Vietnam. That would be a shame, I guess. Now the Vietnamese are suffering under a one party Communist regime and have been for the last thirty years since we withdrew. I wonder what it's like for the Vietnamese under such harsh circumstances? Let's take a quick look, shall we?
"The Vietnam War destroyed much of the economy of Vietnam" - Ouch.
"For many decades, Vietnam's economy was plagued with inefficiency and corruption in state programs, poor quality and underproduction and restrictions on economic activities and trade." - Not good. But that's no fault of our withdrawal. Communism doesn't exactly engender a can-do spirit.
"In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress introduced significant economic reforms with market economy elements as part of a broad economic reform package called "đổi mới" (Renovation). Private ownership was encouraged in industries, commerce and agriculture." - Looking good. Embracing free market capitalism. Good on ya, Vietnam!
"Simultaneously, foreign investment grew threefold and domestic savings quintupled. - Nice.
"Deep poverty, defined as a percent of the population living under $1 per day, has declined significantly and is now smaller than that of China, India, and the Philippines." - You're kidding me!!
"According to the CIA World Fact Book, the unemployment rate in Vietnam is one of the lowest in the world at 2%" - Damn, that's low!!!
"Vietnam was accepted into the WTO on November 7, 2006." - What what what?
"Vietnam's chief trading partners include Japan, Australia, ASEAN countries, the U.S. and Western European countries." - Well, looky there. WE are one of their chief trading partners.
"...due to recent improvements in freedom of religion, the United States government no longer considers Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern." - Freedom to worship. Well done!!
"In Vietnam, education from age 6 to 11 is free and mandatory. Education above these ages is costly, therefore many families can't afford to send their children to school. - That sucks.
It seems that, on the whole, Vietnam is doing alright after the devastation that WE subjected them to during an apparently unnecessary War.
So, according to our President, the possibility that our withdrawal from Iraq could cause another Vietnam - admission to the WTO, Favored Nation Status, freedom of religion (this is a BIG one), higher than average employment rate, etc. - is NOT a good outcome for Iraq. I disagree, Mr. President.
Another question this stupid fucking comparison raises, for me at least, is this: After all the death and destruction, the millions of lives destroyed, the young sons and daughters of both sides ripped from their families and thrown into a pitiless meat grinder, how do Vietnam Veterans feel about the fact that our nation sacrificed them for nothing only to end up becoming a chief trading partner of the STILL communist "Socialist Republic of Vietnam"?
.....And how are the veterans of the latest War for Nothing going to feel in 30 years if the same thing happens in Iraq?
posted by Brian @ 8:08 PM
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