'Nam & 'Raq

In the midst of all the (admittedly appropriate) Vietnam comparisons, I think a lot of people are forgetting perhaps the key point about Vietnam, summarized by new papa Josh Marshall here: Losing/leaving Vietnam did not hurt U.S. interests. Like, at all. Those who argued for continued presence in Vietnam believed it was either some sort of lynchpin in the global struggle against communism or a symbol of U.S. resolve closely watched by our enemies. It was neither. The Soviets collapsed under their own weight a little more than a decade after we withdrew.

The point here is twofold--one, Vietnam is a poor example to choose if you want to argue in favor of prolonged U.S. involvement in a foreign nation; and two, as Josh also argues in his post, it's a mistake to overestimate how much these wars actually serve our global interests. Remember, both Vietnam and Iraq were wars of choice, not necessity.