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Item
|
Iraq
2003–2004
|
Vietnam
1965–1966
|
|
1
|
Commander-in-Chief?
|
Texan,
George W. Bush (with stateside duty during Vietnam war)
|
Texan,
Lyndon B. Johnson (with stateside duty during World War II)
|
|
2
|
Justification
for invasion?
|
Based
on deceptions – WMD,
9/11, aluminum tubes, etc
|
Based
on deceptions – Gulf
of Tonkin
|
|
3
|
US Casualties?
|
1,432
killed, 3,000+ wounded
|
3,910
killed, 5,000+ wounded
|
|
4
|
War Declared
by Congress as required by US Constitution?
|
No, instead
a resolution authorizing the president to take action he deems
necessary
|
No, instead
a resolution authorizing the president to take action he deems
necessary
|
|
5
|
Enemy?
|
Not a
nation, but an abstraction – terrorism
|
Not a
nation, but an abstraction – the spread of communism
|
|
6
|
Frontlines?
|
No frontlines,
guerilla resistance
|
No frontlines,
guerilla resistance
|
|
7
|
President
makes TV appearance to reassure Americans of the necessity
of the war?
|
Yes, after
2 years – 2005
|
Yes, after
3 years – 1968
|
|
8
|
Handling
of the Federal Budget?
|
Guns
and butter policy
|
Guns
and butter policy
|
|
9
|
Party
in control of Congress?
|
No check
and balance as Congress is in the hands of the same party
as the Presidency
|
No check
and balance as Congress is in the hands of the same party
as the Presidency
|
|
10
|
Troops?
|
Enlistments
buttressed by deployment extensions, and National Guard and
Reserves
|
Enlistments
buttressed by draft
|
|
11
|
Troops
in country?
|
140,000
|
200,000
|
|
12
|
Alliance?
|
minimal
troops from allied countries
|
minimal
troops from allied countries
|
|
13
|
History
of country?
|
former
colony of a European power (Britain,
1917–1932)
|
former
colony of a European power (France,
1887–1954)
|
|
14
|
Hoped
for Solution?
|
Iraqification
|
Vietnamization
|
|
15
|
Most extreme
suggestion?
|
Michael
Savage: "Drop
a nuclear bomb on the Sunni triangle."
|
Curtis
LeMay: "Bomb
them back to the stone age."
|
