Gen Wayne A. Downing (USA, Ret) said to Tim Russert, Rep Duncan Hunter (chairman of the House Armed Services Committee), and Rep Ike Skelton (ranking member, House Armed Services commitee) on the November 26, 2006 Meet the Press:

“But what we don’t want to do, Tim, and, and, and, you know, my congressmen here, don’t let us go out of this thing the way we did it in Vietnam. Let’s not sell these people down the river the way we did the, the, the South Vietnamese. Let’s do this smart.”
Gen Downing’s heartfelt plea to the congressmen was to avoid a "Vietnam situation" in Iraq and do it the “smart” way. So much of our current national discussion is rightfully about what the Iraqi’s are able to do (or not able to do), what military decisions the US will make regarding force levels, force composition and military strategy and tactics and what Iraqi politics and middle east issues are in play. The one issue that is not given enough discussion time and planning is the deliberate cultivation of a “unified national will.” Leadership decision making is well and good, but unless there is a intentional and effective mobilization of a supportive US constituency, how can any American decision or plan succeed?

Simply put, any plan regarding Iraq that is not integrated with a successful plan to motivate domestic political support will fail and we will be “doing it” again exactly the way we did “it” in Vietnam.

This kind of foreign policy that is integrated with domestic politics demands a higher quality of political leadership than the US has had to date. Unless and until the American People have this kind of excellence in domestic political leadership the US will be tragically unequal to the task that is Iraq.

(http://sundayschoolforsinners.blogspot.com/)