"Not Again"

Jim McDermott:

The American people learned something new and very important in the President's latest Iraq speech: The White House is now occupied by President Lyndon Bush.

The U.S. invaded Iraq over 25,000 U.S. casualties ago, and the President's new idea is the same old idea - order more U.S. soldiers into harm's way.
President George Bush's escalation of the Iraq War is no different than President Lyndon Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes, the saying goes. There is no reason for America to repeat the Vietnam debacle in Iraq. Yet, the President seems determined to make Iraq the Vietnam of the Mideast, no matter what top U.S. military commanders tell him behind the scenes, no matter what the American people tell him at the polls, and no matter what the Iraqi people tell the world every new and bloody day across Iraq.

The situation in Iraq is not hopeless today, but it could turn hopeless unless the President stops listening to the Neocons who wanted us to invade Iraq from the day George Bush took office. Instead of escalating the war, the President ought to be a building a road to peace. I think that road begins in Cairo, Egypt, without the U.S. dictating terms and conditions. The Arab League should take the lead in staging a Mideast Summit to bring together the Arab world.

The United States cannot shoot its way to peace in Iraq and escalating the number of U.S. soldiers at risk can only result in escalating U.S. casualties. The power of diplomacy is the only power capable of stabilizing Iraq and saving lives, both U.S. and Iraqi. When America left Vietnam a generation ago, we vowed never to let Vietnam happen again. It is up to President Bush to honor that pledge--- for the good of Iraq and the United States.