President George Bush is scheduled to give a speech today directly comparing the Iraq War to Vietnam. According to excerpts of the speech released on Tuesday, Bush will warn that a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq could produce a catastrophe similar to what occurred in Vietnam and Cambodia after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. In part of the speech, Bush says: “The price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps,' and 'killing fields.'” Vietnam historian Stanley Karnow told USA Today that Bush is reaching for historical analogies that don’t track. He said Vietnam was not a bunch of sectarian groups fighting each other as in Iraq. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge toppled a U.S.-backed government. Karnow went on to ask: “Does he think we should have stayed in Vietnam?”
