Iraq and the Vietnam Analogy: Gordon Adams in Chicago Tribune

Gordon Adams is director of security policy studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. From 1993-97 he was the senior White House budget.

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It was a war made in Washington by policymakers like McNamara, virtually none of whom had familiarity with or experience of the local culture in the country at war, and no appreciation for its history or politics. Sound familiar?

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It was a war in which the American people were perpetually misled about the enemy's intentions and about the successes (and failures) of national policy. That should sound familiar.

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A war begun without a long-term plan, based on false assumptions, forcing endless adaptations to changes on the ground, 24 hours behind the news cycle. Sound familiar?

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A war to establish and build democracy in a country with no history of democracy and precious little interest in it. Sound familiar?

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A war so surrounded by patriotic rhetoric that elected officials who doubted its wisdom cowered behind overwhelming votes in favor (Tonkin Gulf). Sounds familiar too.

link to full text:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0404300297apr30,1,1802789.story?coll=chi-printcommentary-hed

see that history is repeating itself. We never learn. And people die.