Reporting on President Bush's speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), in which, as The Washington Post noted, he argued “that withdrawing U.S. troops would lead to widespread death and suffering as it did in Southeast Asia” following the Vietnam War, numerous media outlets failed to note that Bush has attacked political opponents in the past for comparing the current conflict in Iraq to Vietnam. In an April 2004 prime-time press conference, Bush was asked how he “answer[s] the Vietnam comparison,” and responded, “I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy.” And in a June 2006 press conference, Bush said of the Iraq-Vietnam analogy, “I don't see the parallels.”

From the April 13, 2004, press conference:

QUESTION: Mr. President, April is turning into the deadliest month in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, and some people are comparing Iraq to Vietnam and talking about a quagmire. Polls show that support for your policy is declining and that fewer than half Americans now support it. What does that say to you and how do you answer the Vietnam comparison?

BUSH: I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops and sends the wrong message to the enemy. Look, this is hard work. It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation's interest.

While he did not repeat his assertion that the Vietnam analogy “sends the wrong message to our troops ... and to the enemy,” in a June 14, 2006, press conference, Bush claimed not to “see the parallels” between the two wars:

QUESTION: Do you see, as some of your critics do, a parallel between what's going on in Iraq now and Vietnam?

BUSH: No.

QUESTION: Why?

BUSH: Because there's a duly-elected government; 12 million people voted. They said, we want something different from tyranny, we want to live in a free society. And not only did they vote for a government, they voted for a constitution. Obviously, there is sectarian violence, but this is, in many ways, religious in nature, and I don't see the parallels.

In his August 22 speech to the VFW, however, Bush used the Vietnam analogy to argue against withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq:

BUSH: There are many differences between the wars we fought in the Far East and the war on terror we're fighting today. But one important similarity is at their core they're ideological struggles. The militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam were driven by a merciless vision for the proper ordering of humanity. They killed Americans because we stood in the way of their attempt to force their ideology on others. Today, the names and places have changed, but the fundamental character of the struggle has not changed.

[...]

We're still in the early hours of the current ideological struggle, but we do know how the others ended -- and that knowledge helps guide our efforts today.

[...]

Finally, there's Vietnam. This is a complex and painful subject for many Americans. The tragedy of Vietnam is too large to be contained in one speech. So I'm going to limit myself to one argument that has particular significance today. Then as now, people argued the real problem was America's presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end.

[...]

The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge began a murderous rule in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died by starvation and torture and execution. In Vietnam, former allies of the United States and government workers and intellectuals and businessmen were sent off to prison camps, where tens of thousands perished. Hundreds of thousands more fled the country on rickety boats, many of them going to their graves in the South China Sea.

Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left. There's no debate in my mind that the veterans from Vietnam deserve the high praise of the United States of America. Whatever your position is on 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.”

An August 23 Los Angeles Times article on the speech asserted that “Bush has been skittish in the past about analogies to the Vietnam War, largely because of the negative connotations it continues to hold for many Americans.” The article also extensively quoted an unnamed “former official who left the White House recently” defending Bush's “new communications strategy”:

The newest element in the president's communications strategy was a willingness to discuss Vietnam, a conflict that critics of the Iraq war often cite to suggest that the United States should cut its losses in Iraq and begin withdrawing.

Bush has been skittish in the past about analogies to the Vietnam War, largely because of the negative connotations it continues to hold for many Americans.

[...]

A former official who left the White House recently said the new communications strategy was based on two arguments the administration has been making for a long time.

“One, we can win. And in past cases, such as Korea or Japan, people who made confident predictions about the impossibility of succeeding were eventually proven wrong. Two, the consequences of failure are so bad we should be willing to pay a price to win,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is no longer permitted to speak for the administration.

What's different, the official said, is that the president is taking a perceived weakness -- historical comparisons to Vietnam -- and turning it into a strength.

“Vietnam has been wrung around the administration's neck on Iraq for a long time,” he said. “There are many analogies or comparisons or connections that could cut against the administration's position, but this is a connection that supports the administration's position. . . . They want to say, the last time you took a drastic option like abandoning our allies it didn't work well. Let's take a more measured one. They're setting that up.”

But while the article asserted that Bush has simply “been skittish” about the Vietnam analogy, it did not note his previous statements explicitly rejecting it. Further, the article quoted the unnamed “former official” at length expressing his support for Bush's use of the analogy, but included no criticism of the analogy, either by Democratic politicians or by historians.

Several other news outlets reported criticism of Bush's use of the analogy, but did not note that Bush had previously rejected the Vietnam comparison:

• CBS Evening News: Reporting on Bush's analogy, White House correspondent Bill Plante quoted historian Douglas Brinkley asserting, “You're not going to be able to sell the lessons of Vietnam being that we should have stayed a decade longer.”

• The Washington Post: An August 23 Post article included criticism of Bush's analogy from Democratic Sens. John Kerry (MA) and Edward Kennedy (MA).

• The New York Times: An August 23 Times report on the speech also quoted Kerry's criticism, but similarly failed to note the president's conflicting statements about whether or not there is a legitimate comparison to be made between the war in Iraq and the Vietnam War.

• The Wall Street Journal: The August 23 Journal report (subscription required) on the speech noted criticism by Steve Simon of the Council on Foreign Relations, who asserted, “The president emphasized the violence in the wake of American withdrawal from Vietnam. But this happened because the United States left too late, not too early.” It also quoted Ret. Army Brig. Gen. John Johns, who asserted, “The longer we stay there, the worse it's going to get,” but it did not note the president's conflicting statements.

• USA Today: The August 23 USA Today report noted criticism by Johns and Kennedy.

By contrast, both NBC and ABC noted that Bush had previously criticized the Iraq-Vietnam analogy:

• NBC's Nightly News: Introducing a report on the speech, anchor Brian Williams asserted, “And after years of rejecting any comparisons to Vietnam, today President Bush invoked the Vietnam War as a way of saying the U.S. must stay the course and not pull out.” NBC White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell began the report by asserting, “After years of pushback rejecting the Vietnam-Iraq comparison, today in Kansas City, before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the president made a turn and embraced his own Vietnam analogy.” O'Donnell also noted that Bush's comments “contrast what he said last year when asked if he saw a Vietnam-Iraq connection,” before quoting Bush asserting at the 2006 press conference, “I don't see the parallels.”

• ABC's World News: The August 22 broadcast began with chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz asserting, “For years, administration critics have likened the war in Iraq, to the quagmire in Vietnam, a comparison President Bush has strongly rejected. But today, speaking before a supportive audience of veterans, Mr. Bush found a comparison to Vietnam he embraced.” The report also noted criticism of Bush's speech by presidential historian Robert Dallek, who asserted that the analogy “just doesn't make any historical sense to me,” as well as criticism by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE), who asserted, “If, in fact, the president does not change policy, we're going to see a repeat of what we saw in Saigon at the end of that car, with helicopters lifting people desperately clinging to the ladder of a helicopter to get out of Iraq.”

From the August 22 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

PLANTE: In addition to supporting [Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-] Maliki, the president also defended his own Iraq policy. Speaking today to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mr. Bush offered a new rationale for staying the course: Don't let Iraq become another Vietnam.

BUSH [video clip]: 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.”

PLANTE: Historian Douglas Brinkley says there's no real parallel.

BRINKLEY: You're not going to be able to sell the lessons of Vietnam being that we should have stayed a decade longer.

PLANTE: But if things don't get better soon in Iraq, members of Congress aren't going to care as much about past history as they are about future elections. Bill Plante, CBS News, the White House.

From the August 22 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams:

BRIAN WILLIAMS (host): And after years of rejecting any comparisons to Vietnam, today President Bush invoked the Vietnam War as a way of saying the U.S. must stay the course and not pull out. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell is traveling with the president.

O'DONNELL: After years of pushback rejecting the Vietnam-Iraq comparison, today in Kansas City, before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the president made a turn and embraced his own Vietnam analogy.

BUSH [video clip]: Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price for American credibility. But the terrorists see it differently.

O'DONNELL: The president claimed America's modern enemy, Al Qaeda, saw weakness, that if a war became unpopular enough, the U.S. would leave. A parallel campaign launched today involves new TV ads, fighting the PR battle.

IRAQ WAR VETERAN [video clip from Freedom's Watch commercial]: I know what I lost. I also know that if we pull out now, everything I've given and sacrificed will mean nothing.

O'DONNELL: Injured veterans and military families appear in these spots from a group backed by Bush donors, friends, and former press secretary Ari Fleischer. The spots target 20 congressional districts.

IRAQ WAR VETERAN [video clip from Freedom's Watch commercial]: It's no time to quit. It's no time for politics.

O'DONNELL: On the other side, a TV campaign from a group long critical of many Bush policies, targeting Republicans, like Maine Senator Susan Collins.

COMMENTATOR [video clip from Americans United for Change commercial]: Tell Susan Collins it's time to take a stand. End the war.

O'DONNELL: Mr. Bush's comments to the VFW today contrast what he said last year when asked if he saw a Vietnam-Iraq connection.

BUSH [video clip from June 14, 2006]: I don't see the parallels.

O'DONNELL: Some historians claim today his use today of Vietnam was too simple and not accurate.

STANLEY KARNOW (Vietnam historian): He's evoking Vietnam for political purposes. What he says about Vietnam is not entirely true.

O'DONNELL: Democrat and Vietnam veteran John Kerry calls the president's comparison irresponsible, while presidential candidate [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] reacted, saying the U.S. needs to stop refereeing the war and begin getting out now. Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News, Kansas City.

From the August 22 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:

RADDATZ: For years, administration critics have likened the war in Iraq, to the quagmire in Vietnam, a comparison president Bush has strongly rejected. But today, speaking before a supportive audience of veterans, Mr. Bush found a comparison to Vietnam he embraced.

BUSH [video clip]: Then as now, people argued the real problem was America's presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end.

RADDATZ: The president asserted that it was the American retreat from Southeast Asia that led directly to the carnage and displacement that followed.

BUSH [video clip]: 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.”

RADDATZ: Historians quickly seized on the president's remarks.

ROBERT DALLEK: What is Mr. Bush suggesting? We should have stayed there forever? We should have invaded North Vietnam? It just doesn't make any historical sense to me.

RADDATZ: Reaction from Democrats was swift, as well, with some making their own comparisons.

BIDEN [video clip]: If, in fact, the president does not change policy, we're going to see a repeat of what we saw in Saigon at the end of that war, with helicopters lifting people desperately clinging to the ladder of a helicopter to get out of Iraq.