Leaving aside whether the situation in Iraq is analagous to the situation in Vietnam four decades ago, the AP's Douglass K. Daniel notes that President Bush's words on Iraq sound increasingly similar to those used by President Johnson to describe the situation in Vietnam.

Bush officials bristle at the suggestion the war in Iraq might look anything like Vietnam. Yet just as today's anti-war protests recall memories of yesteryear, President Bush's own words echo those of President Johnson in 1967, a pivotal year for the U.S. in Vietnam.

"America is committed to the defense of South Vietnam until an honorable peace can be negotiated," Johnson told the Tennessee Legislature on March 15, 1967. Despite the obstacles to victory, the president said, "We shall stay the course."

After 14 Marines died in a roadside bombing on Aug. 3, Bush declared: "We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. And the job is this: We'll help the Iraqis develop a democracy."

Perhaps this is one reason why less than a third of Americans approve of the President's handling of the war in Iraq...