A BETTER ANALOGY

In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention the other day, President Bush put another nail in the coffin of his pro-war argument. Seeking favor with Viet Nam vets at the convention, Bush compared the war in Iraq to the war in Viet Nam. Wrong.

Mr. Bush, who claims to believe in victory at any cost, would do well to remember that he was personally unwilling to pay any cost at all during the Viet Nam war. He hid out in an Air National Guard unit reserved for pro athletes and the sons of government VIPs. Apparently, the cost is intended to be paid by others.

He also said that failure in Iraq would surely produce the same disastrous results as failure in Viet Nam. I’m not exactly sure what that means, unless the president fears a sudden invasion of tens of thousands of Iraqi manicurists. We left Viet Nam and the world did not fall apart as predicted. I think the president should poke around for a better analogy.

a foot on either side