Can't anyone get the message right?

Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, get it? The President says so, Rummy says so, heck, even John McCain says so. Iraq is completely different than Vietnam in every way...except the ways in which it's similar.

But pointing out those similarities "sends the wrong message to the troops," according to the Prez. Except the troops that make the comparisons, I guess.

Actually, there are important differences. Billmon, not satisfied with noting that "Iraq is Vietnam on speed," pushes the analogy, finding that "...speed was just the gateway drug." Iraq, he suggests, is Vietnam on crack.

But even Billmon knows the analogy is imperfect. After all, "...the Bushies have invented a few blunders that LBJ probably would have never thought of, like turning the Green Zone into a summer camp for the Young Republicans, or relying on the spiritual heirs of the people who gave us the $500 toilet seat to manage the logistical equivalent of the D-Day invasion -- many D-Day invasions."

So see? Iraq is different than Vietnam. Except in the ways it's similar. And in the ways it's different, it's even worse...

And don't worry about the troops. They know it.