01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Frank Rich's commentaries (Journal, May 9 and 23) are examples of a generation of journalists pining for the "good old days" of Vietnam. Rich admits that the "Vietnam parallels are, as always, not quite exact," but he poses the flawed argument anyway.

In reality, Iraq is not Vietnam, neither politically nor militarily; Fallujah is not Hue City; and Abu Ghraib is not My Lai. The constant refrain of a "new Vietnam" is the sad musing of an aging generation of reporters who cut their teeth on the jungles of Southeast Asia. These writers want to paint our country in the worst light. They can assign no other motive to America than the evil exercise of power.

Americans know better. While some journalists gleefully wish for a new Vietnam to report on, most Americans clearly do not wish for the humbling of America that would accompany this story line. Americans do not yearn for "peace with honor" (the Nixon stratagem for withdrawal from Vietnam) in Iraq. Americans want our nation to be successful.

I feel sorry for Mr. Rich. He will not get his Vietnam. He and others of his ilk will have to look elsewhere. They will be denied their crowning glory, the ignoble defeat of American aims in Iraq and the corresponding humiliation of our nation and our country's armed forces.

Lt. Col. PATRICK J. DONAHOE (U.S. Army)

Newport

The writer is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College.