Iraq Comparisons to Vietnam Are Shameful Media Mischaracterizations

As American media turned anti-war in late 2003 in order to assist Democrats in the upcoming 2004 elections, a common strategy of comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam was implemented.

In fact, since the March 19, 2003, invasion, there have been thousands of press reports which included the words Iraq and Vietnam.

With this is mind, our friend Jim at Gateway Pundit posted an absolutely fabulous analysis on Thursday of just how absurd such comparisons are (h/t Glenn Reynolds):

Democrats and the media have set new guidelines for America.
The national sacrifice limit will now be set at 4000, max.
Anytime the US records 4000 military losses in 5 1/2 years it will be recognized under the new rules as a horrible defeat.

[…]

It also does not matter how the losses compare to other US wars.

Jim included charts and graphs to illustrate the point concerning how Iraq doesn't come close to comparing to Vietnam and other wars with relation to casualties and changes in the population including the following:

Sadly, these are elements that the press ignore as they force upon the citizenry a picture in Iraq that looks eerily similar to Vietnam in the late ’60s and early ’70s despite the factual differences.

For instance, according to LexisNexis, NBC News has done 644 reports with the words Iraq and Vietnam in them, including this from Roger O’Neil on the “Nightly News” this past Independence Day:

While there is the inevitable comparison between Iraq and Vietnam, on one point there is no argument, the veterans coming home from this war are seeing a far different America than what the veterans of Vietnam saw.

There was no welcome home from that unpopular war.

For its part, CBS News has done 536 reports with the words Iraq and Vietnam, including this from the “Morning News” Tuesday:

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost more than the Vietnam war. Adjusted for inflation, the Vietnam war cost taxpayers $650 billion over more than 10 years. After less than five years, the current conflicts have topped 610 billion. With the troop surge, the Pentagon spends $12 billion a month.

And, ABC News has aired 629 such reports since March 19, 2003, including the following on Wednesday’s “Good Morning America” when during a piece about the growing demand on Capitol Hill for immediate troop withdrawal, Claire Shipman stated, “But Senator McCain argues the real risk is withdrawing at all. Tuesday, dramatically invoking the Vietnam pullout.”

For its part, CNN has done in excess of 3000 reports (LexisNexis maxes out at that number!) since the invasion with the words Iraq and Vietnam in them. Ditto the Associated Press.

The New York Times comes in with a tally of 2,481. The Washington Post, as if in competition, published almost exactly the same at 2,475.

Amazing, wouldn’t you agree?

Now, in fairness, all because an article or a report contains the words Iraq and Vietnam, this doesn’t mean the point of the piece was specifically to draw a negative comparison. For instance, an article quoting John McCain’s opinion of Iraq might mention that he is a Vietnam War veteran.

However, given the extraordinary numbers here – well into ten thousand – the almost incessant reference to Vietnam in reports about Iraq is clearly not an accident, and designed to give Americans as negative a view of the current incursion as possible.