President Bush visited Vietnam today for the first time during his presidency, with the primary focus of strengthening business ties with the nation. Bush’s trip to the country while we are engaged in a long and drawn out occupation conjured up questions about whether there are lessons to be learned from the war in Vietnam. In response, Bush, true to form, instead touted the country’s steadfast resolve to succeed:
“One lesson is, is that we tend to want there to be instant success in the world, and the task in Iraq is going to take a while.”
And, although it is hard to tell from the sliced footage of CNN that the folks over at Think Progress have, Bush, seems to continue his response, sticking to his tired guns, saying, “We’ll succeed until we quit.” Apparently, the big/important lesson from Vietnam seems to have slipped his mind.
