Iraq vs Vietnam, Part III

Joseph Galloway (co-author of We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young) wrote a pretty good column on how Rumsfeld is destroying the American military, and he includes what I find to be the most pertinent analogy between Iraq and Vietnam I've seen thus far:

Another defense secretary who could not admit he'd erred was Robert Strange McNamara, who, like Rumsfeld, was recruited from corporate America. By the time he did, it was too late.

Still not quite parallel. McNamara was handpicked by Kennedy because he was innovative and highly intelligent, as part of his "best and brightest" Cabinet. Rummy, from all I can gather, was picked more for his hard-line neo-conservatism.

But read the rest of the article. It's short and quite good.

Via Atrios.