Quote:
Originally posted by scooobiedooobie
vietnam comparisons are not justified in the war with iraq, and shame on anybody who draws false comparisons to a much more severe war for political gain.
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certainly some of the particulars regarding the role of the civilians involved are not comparable...
...but from the perpspective of the administrations' conduct before and during the conflict in question (and i think this is the point Ellsberg is making), i think the comparison is completely relevant.
manipulating public opinion, cherry picking intelligence data, a carefully orchestrated spin machine, exploiting world events, shifting situational rationales for military action, significant intelligence failures, discrediting and demonizing critics, covert political agendas, and the fantasy that we can use military force to socially engineer the world into our own image - these are common characteristics of our government in both Vietnam and Iraq.
the only shame i see is following your leader over a cliff like a lemming because you think he's a stand-up guy, while your neighbor's kids are getting killed in a foreign country for no good reason. it happened in Vietnam and it's happening now.
that's a shame.