Bush compares fight against terror to wars in Far East

President Bush on Wednesday compared the war on terror to the wars the U.S. fought in the Far East, saying that Japan and South Korea became successful democracies when America persevered, but that millions suffered after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam.

“The advance of freedom in these lands should give us confidence that the hard work we are doing in the Middle East can have the same results we have seen in Asia — if we show the same perseverance and sense of purpose,” Bush said in a speech to the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Mo.

{mosads}He argued that “the ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq,” and that, as a result of the sacrifices and hard work in the Far East, “Asia is a freer, more prosperous, and stable continent whose people want to live in peace with America — not attack America.”

Throughout his remarks, Bush sought to draw parallels between the situation then and now.

“In the aftermath of Japan’s surrender, many thought it naïve to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy,” he stated. “Then, as now, the critics argued that some people were simply not fit for freedom.”

Bush added that people at the time also felt as though Japan’s religion would make it difficult for democracy to take hold, pointing out that all these critics had been proven wrong and that the country “retains its religious and cultural traditions and stands as one of the world’s great free societies.”

Democratic leaders strongly rejected the comparison.

“President Bush’s attempt to compare the war in Iraq to past military conflicts in East Asia ignores the fundamental difference between the two,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ahead of the president’s speech. “Our nation was misled by the Bush administration in an effort to gain support for the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, leading to one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our history.”

Reid vowed that Congress would change the direction in Iraq in the fall.

However, Bush said in his remarks that withdrawing now is the wrong path, pointing to the example of Vietnam.

“Then, as now, people argued that the real problem was America’s presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end,” he said, adding that this was a “costly misimpression.”

“Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left,” Bush said. “Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like ‘boat people,’ ‘re-education camps,’ and ‘killing fields.’”  

The president called on the country to “resist the deceptive allure of retreat” and vowed that he would not “pull the rug” from under U.S. troops now serving in Iraq.

“So long as we remain true to our ideals, we will defeat the extremists in Iraq and help that country’s people stand up a functioning democracy in the heart of the Middle East,” Bush concluded. “When that hard work is done and the critics of today recede from memory, the cause of freedom will be stronger, a vital region will be brighter, and America will be safer.”