idealogical struggles my ass.

bush is comparing the vietnam war to the war at hand in iraq. calling them both 'ideaological struggles' (well, depends on the day, considering we americans like to change our minds as to why the hell we're over there pretty damn often.)
and if we really are putting our best soldiers on the line in the name of democracy, an ideal government (to us, anyway), then it's truly an unrealistic feat. you see, an idea like that---that you can force your culture on another and expect them to conform successfully---is like doing an organ transplant on someone with a completely different bloodtype than the donor. it doesn't work because that nation has been the way it has been for years. it simply cannot adapt.
more americans will die. more mothers turned to widows. more fathers turned to widowers. more children with single parents. more parents having to bury their son or daughter. and for what reason? well, to some, its in the name of fighting terrorism. eradicating something that has very dangerous potential.
now i dont disagree that terrorism is a horrific thing. it truly is. but we bombed iraq with the intention of finding weapons of mass destruction (none!), then we kicked their dictator's ass (he's dead now, mind you), and by then we destroyed so much we thought, hey, let's try instilling our form of government on a population that's most certainly not used to the way it works.
on another note, fighting terrorism is like fighting crime: you can't destroy it in its entirety. call me crazy, but why not try defending your own nation (you know, the one you were elected to help protect? ring a bell?) and increasing security HERE rather than playing the good cop and sending our sons and daughters to die overseas? we could make airports more secure. educate the public on what to do if they see suspicious activity. there are so many alternatives. alternatives that help save lives rather than take them.
don't get me wrong. i 250% support our troops. but that doesn't mean i support this war. i can certainly see that similarities exist between 'nam and iraq. the reasons for both: illegitimate. public opinion concerning each: negative. the majority of america wants their troops back.
and if things work out the way that i think they will, the american people will end this war. just like vietnam.