Bush compares Iraq with Vietnam to defend his war plan

U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday argued for perseverance in Iraq by placing the unpopular war in the historical context of U.S. experiences in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, but critics said he missed the mark.

Speaking to thousands of veterans, many of whom served in Asia, Bush laid the groundwork for a key mid-September report on Iraq that is expected to show some progress on the security front but little in the way of political reconciliation.

Bush said it was in U.S. interests to continue to work to stabilize Iraq and held out the modern democracies in Japan and South Korea as potential models. He also raised the example of the emergence of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and violence in Vietnam after U.S. troops pulled out to warn of the consequences of leaving Iraq.

"Despite the mistakes that have been made, despite the problems we have encountered, seeing the Iraqis through as they build their democracy is critical to keeping the American people safe from the terrorists who want to attack us," Bush said.

The comparison Bush drew to Vietnam was risky and one his administration has tended to avoid. Many Democrats have likened Iraq to Vietnam, calling the war a quagmire that has exacted a toll in American lives and money without furthering U.S. interests.

Bush also used his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars to reiterate his support for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, despite comments he made a day earlier highlighting frustration with the Iraqi leader's inability to reconcile warring factions.

The speech was the first in Bush's new campaign to build a case for staying in Iraq in the face of defections among his Republican Party colleagues and a disillusioned American public. He will talk about Iraq in the context of wider U.S. strategy in the Middle East next Tuesday when he addresses the American Legion, another veterans' group, in Reno, Nevada.

Waiting for Petraeus

Bush said that like World War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the war in Iraq was an "ideological struggle" as he again depicted the conflict as part of the broader U.S. "war on terror."

"The militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam were driven by a merciless vision for the proper ordering of humanity," Bush said. "Like our enemies in the past, the terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own: a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance and dissent," he added.

Pressure is building on Bush over Iraq ahead of a report to Congress due by Sept. 15 from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus. It will evaluate the progress of the troop buildup Bush ordered early this year aimed at reducing the violence there and comes as the Democratic-led Congress tries to bring about a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada dismissed Bush's historical comparisons and said the decision to invade Iraq was "one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our history." Reid pledged Democrats would seek in coming weeks to force a change in Bush's "failed strategy in Iraq." Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Bush for the presidency in 2004, said Bush's comparison to the Vietnam War was "irresponsible" and "ignorant."

"It is unfortunate that President Bush would want to invoke a false comparison of Vietnam to Iraq, but not surprising that he would oversimplify the differences and overlook the tragic similarities," said Kerry, who served in Vietnam. "If the president wants to heed the lessons of Vietnam, he should change course and change course now," he added.