IRAQ IS NOT VIETNAM. Apples are not oranges. Whatever. We know they’re not the same in terms of military tactics and KIA rates and local circumstances and geopolitics. But in the panoramic view of American hubris and failures, the quagmire and the sandstorm are starting to look like mirror images.

SHADY BEGINNINGS
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Weapons of Mass Destruction

MONOLITHIC BAD GUYS
Red Menace
Global War on Terror

ROUNDING UP THE POSSE
LBJ’s “Flags of Many Nations”
W’s “Coalition of the Willing”

PRE-EMPTION DEFENSE
“We’re fighting the Commies in Saigon so we don’t have to
fight ‘em in San Francisco.”
“We’re fighting the terrorists in Baghdad so we don’t have to
fight ‘em in Boston.”

OOPS FACTOR
When the Americans took out Saddam Hussein, they had to step in to clean up the mess they made. Same thing happened when the U.S. initiated regime change by getting rid of South Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem.

DEHUMANIZING SLUR BY U.S. TROOPS
Gook, Charlie
Hajis, towelheads

PR DISASTERS
My Lai Massacre
Mass Torture at Abu Graib

LIBERAL HISTRIONICS
Jane Fonda
Michael Moore

RIGHT-WING DELUSIONS
“Light at the end of the tunnel”
“Stay the course”

PRESIDENCIES TORPEDOED
LBJ’s ratings tanked; he bowed out of the following presidential elections and saw his dreams of a Great Society die; became a tragic figure
GWB’s ratings tanked, he cost the Republicans control of Congress, his daddy’s friends have to bail him out; became a comic figure

OPERATION “SHE’S ALL YOURS”
Vietnamization
Iraqization

FACE-SAVING METAPHOR
Peace with Honor
Graceful Exit

HUMILIATING SEXUAL METAPHOR
Withdrawal
Pull-out •