Mistakes of Vietnam repeated with Iraq, By MAX CLELAND

Mistakes of Vietnam repeated with Iraq, By MAX CLELAND

(EXCERPT) The president of the United States decides to go to war
against a nation led by a brutal dictator supported by one-party rule.
That dictator has made war on his neighbors. The president decides
this is a threat to the United States.

In his campaign for president he gives no indication of wanting to go
to war. In fact, he decries the overextension of American military
might and says other nations must do more. However, unbeknownst to the
American public, the president's own Pentagon advisers have already
cooked up a plan to go to war. All they are looking for is an excuse.

Based on faulty intelligence, cherry-picked information is fed to
Congress and the American people. The president goes on national
television to make the case for war, using as part of the rationale an
incident that never happened. Congress buys the bait -- hook, line and
sinker -- and passes a resolution giving the president the authority
to use "all necessary means" to prosecute the war.

The war is started with an air and ground attack. Initially there is
optimism. The president says we are winning. The cocky, self-assured
secretary of defense says we are winning. As a matter of fact, the
secretary of defense promises the troops will be home soon.

However, the truth on the ground that the soldiers face in the war is
different than the political policy that sent them there. They face
increased opposition from a determined enemy. They are surprised by
terrorist attacks, village assassinations, increasing casualties and
growing anti-American sentiment. They find themselves bogged down in a
guerrilla la...

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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com