Rice Sees No Parallels Between Vietnam War And Iraq

Rice sees no parallels between Vietnam War and Iraq

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/....1116diplo.php

By Helene Cooper/The New York Times
Published: November 16, 2006

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that she saw no historical parallels between the war in Iraq and America's last lengthy war - the two-decade entanglement in Vietnam that caused many Americans to question the involvement of U.S. forces in a conflict thousands of miles away and to demand that those forces be brought home.

Speaking to reporters aboard her plane en route to Vietnam for a regional economic forum, Rice said Iraq is a quite different situation.

"Historical parallels of that kind are not very helpful, and I don't think they happen to be right," she said. "This is a different set of circumstances with different stakes for the United States."

Rice, who, along with President George W. Bush, is making her first trip to Vietnam, characterized the Iraq war as a fight between an Iraqi government and insurgents. Another difference, she said, is that in Iraq, America has fielded a volunteer army, without resorting to a draft. Analogies between Vietnam and Iraq "are not only faulty, but also not healthy," she said.

But for Rice and Bush, who is flying separately to Vietnam for the forum, the parallels between Iraq and Vietnam will be hard to escape, particularly because the trip is coming so soon after last week's midterm elections. Indeed, Rice delayed her trip to Vietnam by a day to meet with administration officials about what to do about the deteriorating situation in Iraq.

On Monday, Rice answered inquiries from members of a bipartisan commission appointed by Congress to look for other options and strategies in Iraq. The commission is led by former Secretary of State James H. Baker.

One of the recommendations expected to come from the commission's deliberations is that the United States should look for ways to engage Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to help find a solution to the sectarian violence that has bedeviled Iraq. That would likely be a tough pill for the Bush administration to swallow; part of Bush's doctrine has been to try to isolate Iran, Syria and other American foes like North Korea by denying them full diplomatic dialogue with America.

Rice did not indicate any softening of the administration line. She said the United States remained willing to talk to Iran if it first suspended uranium enrichment. Those talks, she said, could expand from discussions about Iran's nuclear program to other areas of mutual concern.

"There's no lack of opportunities to talk to the Iranians," she said. "The question is, is there anything about Iranian behavior that would suggest that they're ready to contribute to stability in Iraq, and at this point I just don't see it."

The United States and Europe are engaged in an effort to coax Russia and China to agree to punitive sanctions in the U.N. Security Council against Iran as part of an international effort to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. On June 1, the administration offered to end decades of American policy against talking to Tehran provided that Iran first suspended its production of uranium, which the United States and Europe contend is meant to develop nuclear weapons. Iran contends its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iran has refused, and the security situation and violence in Iraq complicates the issue for Washington because many analysts and diplomats say they believe that the United States needs Iranian cooperation if it is to deal effectively with the violence in Iraq.

The United States faces a similar situation with Damascus, which is also on the Bush administration's do-not-talk list, although in a somewhat more moderate form. The United States, which has accused Syria of sponsoring violence in Lebanon and Israel, has an embassy in Damascus, although its ambassador was recalled last year after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon.

Asked if she might go to Damascus to initiate talks with Syria, Rice said: "It is not an issue of whether you talk to somebody. I'll talk to anybody, anywhere, anytime, under the right circumstances, if I think we can make progress. I'm not afraid to talk to anybody."

But, she said, "we have had, over the course of this administration, discussions with the Syrians, talks with the Syrians, and nothing has changed."

It's funny, it's almost like a carbon copy of Vietnam. Early in the Vietnam war, the casualties were about the same as what they are now in Iraq. Then the US started increasing the troop levels in Vietnam and the casualty rate started increasing as well. Now they are saying they want to increase troop levels in Iraq by 20,000. I can't help thinking sending more troops will only give the insurgents more targets. I think Iraq is just too out of control to save at this point, and 20,000 troops is really just a drop in the bucket.