George Bush, a man not know for his grasp of history, spoke today comparing Vietnam with Iraq and yet again highlighted his general ignorance of history and events.
America, he claims, withdrew from Vietnam too soon. Astonishingly Bush has no concept of the fact that the US military was fully aware by about 1968 that the US was unable to achieve a military victory in Vietnam. Very few parts of Vietnam were without some kind of warfare whilst on the home front in America the majority of the US population were firmly against the Vietnam war.
George Bush then goes on to say that the American withdrawal from Vietnam led to the suffering of other nations in the region. In particular he cites Cambodia as an example. Bush said
"Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens," Mr Bush said, mentioning reprisals against US allies in Vietnam, the displacement of Vietnamese refugees and the massacres in Cambodia under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.
What George W Bush conveniently forgets is that Cambodia had been happily neutral until pressure was put on the Cambodians by the US. Prince Sihanouk was threatened by the US and effectively allowed his own country to be bombed by the US to dislodge Viet Cong forces in the heavily forested border area. Prince Sihanouk was himself deposed by pro-American general Lon Nol. The country's borders were closed, and the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces launched attacks in to Cambodia to attack Viet Cong bases and buy time for South Vietnam. The coup against Sihanouk and U.S. bombing, destabilized Cambodia, and increased support for the Khmer Rouge, which in turn led to the Khmer Rouge taking over.
So the USA's own actions prior to their withdrawal from Vietnam was where the responsibility for the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror stemmed from.
Of course Bush conveniently forgets also that it was Communist run Vietnam that eventually invaded Cambodia and kicked out the Khmer Rouge. Conveniently forgotten ? Just bloody ignorant ? Or simply a liar ? Take your pick. I'd say Bush is all three.
Finally Bush said
"Just like in Vietnam, if we pull out (of Iraq) too soon, this enemy will follow us home"
Just what enemy followed the US home after 1975 ? Lying, spreading fear and misleading Americans is just a habit Bush cannot give up. I know a few years ago Bush gave up Alcohol. I guess there is no chance of him giving up lying.
3 comments:
reminds me of something Jon Stewart said, 'George Bush isn't stupid, he just talks to people as if their stupid'. This puts things in a slightly different perspective, after all a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing in the hands of one so powerful.
i agree, NB. And have linked to your blog via mine. A total re-invention of the truth, to an audience he is not fit to address.
I initially thought Bush said, "Just like in Vietnam", but it appears that he said, "Unlinke Vietnam...this enemy will follow us home."
It's really unkown what will happen if we pull out. We should probably get the troops out and help rebuild their infrastructure...maybe he should look at how the Allies handled the restructuring of postwar Germany, Italy and Japan.
Then again, there are probably few parallels between the US involvement in WWII and Iraq.
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