Parallel worlds

George Bush compared Iraq to Vietnam

America will fight in Iraq until victory, and the departure of American soldiers from Iraq will signal the victory of al-Qaeda, US President George W. Bush said at a convention of veterans of the wars in Korea and Vietnam in Kansas City, Missouri. “I am confident that we will win,” the president said optimistically. Bush compared the war in Iraq with the US military actions against Japan during the Second World War and in Korea in 1950-1953, as a result of which Japan and South Korea became democracies and allies of the United States.

The head of the White House drew historical parallels between the US withdrawal from Vietnam and the possible withdrawal of US troops from Iraq , which, in his opinion, could turn into a disaster for millions of people, as was the case in Southeast Asia after the US defeat in Vietnam. Bush recalled the tragedy of Cambodia under the dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. “The cost of America's withdrawal from Vietnam was paid for in the lives of millions of innocent people whose death throes added such terms as 'boat men,' 'forceful labor camps,' and 'killing fields' to our vocabulary,” the American president said. For some reason, Bush connected the “people in boats” with Vietnam, although this is what is customary to call primarily refugees from Cuba or Haiti who tried to reach the shores of the United States on boats. “The Killing Fields” are an invention of the Khmer Rouge, the name given to the sites of mass executions of Cambodians during the reign of Pol Pot. In order to save ammunition, people were killed with knives, shovels, hoes, or simply beaten to death with sticks, after which they were buried in open pits. As for the “correctional camps,” they existed in all countries that embarked on the path of building socialism in the twentieth century.

Influential members of the US opposition Democratic Party criticized Bush's speech. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected comparisons between the situation in Vietnam and Iraq, where "soldiers are mired in civil war due to the failure of the presidential administration to bring stability to Iraq through political means." The senator called the US invasion of Iraq one of the biggest mistakes in American history. Vietnam War veteran Democratic Senator John Kerry called the president's historical parallels "irresponsible and illiterate." Mr. Kerry believes that behind his parallels, Bush fails to see the tragic similarities between Vietnam and Iraq. Democratic Senator Joe Biden noted that Bush's policies are pushing the United States "to repeat the situation in Saigon, when American citizens were evacuated from the roof of the American embassy in Vietnam."

Director of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, Deputy Chairman of the Russia-USA Association Sergei Oznobishchev told Vremya Novostei that comparing Iraq with Vietnam is to some extent acceptable: “The difference is that two state systems fought in Vietnam, while in Iraq the Americans were stuck in someone else's civil war, which they themselves gave birth to. They destroyed the existing, albeit authoritarian, but stable structure of government and could not give anything in return except slogans about freedom and democracy, which the Arabs understand completely differently than the Americans.”

The leader among the Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Hillary Clinton, is confident that “there is no military solution in Iraq and it’s time to leave there.” However, according to Mr. Oznobishchev, this will be very difficult to do: “The Americans will leave Iraq, but the civil war will still continue. Two or even three independent states may emerge on Iraqi territory. Then danger will threaten the entire region. Now Iraq, like a cancer, is eating away at the popularity of the Republicans and President Bush himself.”

As during the Vietnam War, reports from the theater of operations and reports on the losses of American troops in Iraq, which exceeded 3,720 people, affect the popularity of the US president, teetering at the level of 29-30%. Approximately 64% of Americans do not support Bush's policy of continuing the war in Iraq. “As during the Vietnam War, as we approach the presidential election, the slogans of “Bring Our Sons Home” will gain strength and popularity. They will probably be played by the Democrats, who still don’t really have an idea of ​​how to pull America out of the Iraqi quagmire,” says the VN expert.

Victor VOLODIN