Iraq and Vietnam

Despite all of the comparisons apparently Iraq and Vietnam are two different wars -- who knew?

"In Vietnam, I don't think the local population ever understood that we were just there to help them," says Chief Warrant Officer James Miles, 57, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who flew UH-1H Hueys in Vietnam from February 1969 to February 1970. And the Vietcong and North Vietnamese were a tougher, more tenacious enemy, he says. Instead of setting off bombs outside the base, they'd be inside.

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"I knew we were going to lose Vietnam the day I walked off the plane," says Miles, who returned home this month after nearly a year in Iraq. Not this time. "There's no doubt in my mind that this was the right thing to do," he says.

It's a worthwhile read.

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Update: This would seem to be further evidence that the two conflicts have little in common, which appears to be either the equivalent of the NVA and VC fighting each other or North Vietnam vs. China (which did in fact happen after the war ended).