Retired general: Parallels between Iraq, Vietnam overplayed

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Wednesday told a convention of veterans that America's experience in Vietnam should be a lesson to those who want U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq. Some military analysts question that contention, including a retired general who served in Vietnam.

Retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman, a decorated combat veteran, commanded a company in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Before retiring in 2001, Christman was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, for five years.

He is a senior vice president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and lectures extensively on national defense issues, including the war against terrorism.

In an e-mail interview, CNN.com asked the Vietnam veteran for his reaction to the president's speech.

CNN.com: President Bush suggested that a troop withdrawal from Iraq would lead to a period of violence and killing similar to the end of the Vietnam War. Do you think that comparison is valid?

Christman: A precipitous withdrawal almost certainly will lead to vastly increased bloodletting. The question, however, is the context in which that withdrawal occurs. If it takes place following a political accommodation amongst Iraqi factions and with strengthened Iraqi institutions -- Defense and Interior ministries most importantly -- the likelihood of increased carnage is greatly minimized. The "surge" is useful only if the Iraqis use the time we have given them to reach that accommodation.

On Vietnam, the similarities are greatly overplayed. Iraq is, frankly, far more complex than Vietnam, given the internal religious and political dynamics, and externally, the region has far greater strategic significance for the U.S. than Vietnam and Southeast Asia ever did for the U.S. in the 1960s.

What does unite the Vietnam and Iraq experiences, however, is the importance of reaching a political solution as the "end game." We were successful militarily in Vietnam, and we are experiencing clear military success now in Iraq, but this latter success will be irrelevant unless it is framed by a political settlement that involves all Iraqi factions.

CNN.com: As a veteran of Vietnam, what is your view on how the Vietnam War ended?

Christman: The Vietnam War's end was an unmitigated disaster that directly affected for decades perceptions of America's international leadership and competence and led to the "hollowing out" of America's Army in the 1970s.

But the ending of the war was in many respects preordained by how we entered the conflict to begin with: by a severe miscalculation of our strategic interests, and by misjudging the fundamental nature of the conflict from the get-go.

We failed to view it, as did our antagonists, as a war of national liberation. In that light, the decision to intervene in the first place, and once we did intervene, the strategy we used to try to achieve victory, represented one of the greatest U.S. strategic blunders of the 20th century.

CNN.com: What lessons from the Vietnam era do you think applies to the current war in Iraq?

Christman: The most important "Vietnam" lesson to apply to Iraq is to ensure we have directed military tactics and strategy toward a political outcome within which all parties can find accommodation. If not, all the military success in the world will be, as was the case with Vietnam, irrelevant.

CNN.com: Do you think President Bush's arguments will increase support among Vietnam War veterans for the current "surge" strategy?

Christman: I think veterans' opinions on Iraq have now hardened on all sides, such that any future speech by any political leader -- even the president -- will have little impact on veterans' support levels.

CNN.com: President Bush suggested that a withdrawal from Iraq now would "pull the rug out" from the troops in Iraq if politicians in Washington called for a withdrawal. Do you think the soldiers in Iraq would feel betrayed if they were ordered to withdraw now?

Christman: A politically directed withdrawal now would clearly increase the feeling of "betrayal." But no serious political leader is calling for total and immediate withdrawal.

The real sense of "betrayal" will come from the inability of the Iraqis themselves to show any sign of progress on the ultimate and decisive political questions of the moment -- particularly in light of the increased time that coalition military actions have provided them to reach such solutions. E-mail to a friend

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