Reply #8: (AFP) Obama says Afghanistan is no Vietnam

[laststeamtrain]

Obama says Afghanistan is no Vietnam

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama rejected comparisons between the deepening US involvement in Afghanistan and the Vietnam war in an interview with the New York Times published Tuesday.

Some commentators have suggested that Obama could suffer the same fate as 1960s Democratic president Lyndon Johnson who saw his reformist administration eventually consumed by an entanglement in a war half a world away.

But Obama, who is aiming to enact a hugely ambitious domestic agenda while dealing with multiple crises abroad, rejected the comparison.

"You have to learn lessons from history. On the other hand, each historical moment is different," Obama said in a joint interview with the New York Times and CNBC.

"You never step into the same river twice. And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam."

Obama is currently considering a strategic review of US operations in Afghanistan and is widely expected to receive a request from the military for more US troops in the coming weeks. ... http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jl42jBAN1VbkljFKESn_S80anSOg