[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12402-12403]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          VIET NAM NEVER AGAIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 15, 2004

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, quite a number of Washington leaders have 
expressed great anger over the comparison of the present war in Iraq to 
the past war in Viet Nam. Many insist that there is no logical 
comparison: Viet Nam was a war waged over many years and thousands of 
Americans died. With great glee they point to the fact that we have not 
yet had the first thousand body bags come home from Iraq. Consider, Mr. 
Speaker, the fact that not one soldier killed or wounded has a wife, 
mother and family rejoicing about the overall low casualty rate. Human 
life is sacred and one tragedy of Viet Nam is that our government 
stopped counting one soul at a time. 58,000 heroes died in the jungles 
of Viet Nam and every American citizen has a duty to fight to guarantee 
that no body count statistics close to these are tolerated ever again. 
While we praise the heroism of the troops in Iraq we must confess that 
it is now crystal clear that this army is in the wrong place fighting 
the wrong enemy at great financial as well as human costs.
  Before the years begin to go by and the body count mounts into the 
thousands, an exit strategy must be implemented now. Viet Nam has 
taught us that inevitably there will be an end negotiated to even a 
very complex war. In the interest of our nation and of humanity let us 
begin to work backward to initiate the negotiations for peace. The 
shape of the table might be the same as the table shape finally agreed 
upon in Viet Nam. What matters most is that this administration must 
invite all of the nations on the U.N. Security Council and all of the 
members of NATO to come to the table. The sharing of the powers of 
decision-making must be placed on the table. French, German, Russian 
and Chinese troops must be contributed to the effort to guarantee law 
and order in Iraq. The guerilla insurgents may hold out for many years 
but once we are able to make the argument to the Iraqi masses that we 
are not in their country to re-institute colonial subjugation or to 
pilfer their oil revenues the popular appeal of the violent uprising 
will fade away. An international presence with a clearly stated set of 
rules and a transparent timetable will encourage the development and 
actions of a new leadership class among the Iraqi population. The 
yearling for liberty is so great in the bosom of every human being that 
true freedom has its own overwhelming recruiting power.
  Viet Nam is still described by former Defense Secretary Robert 
McNamara as an unfortunate series of mistakes; however, in dishonest 
riddles McNamara refuses to admit that Viet Nam was one of the greatest 
blunders in modern history. 58,000 died needlessly. We lost Viet Nam 
but the dominoes did not fall against us. The free world went on to win 
the cold war. Victory over Al Qaeda and world terrorism cannot be won 
in Iraq. Let this truth guide Washington decision-makers now before 
another 58,000 die.

                             No New Vietnam

     In Iraq 58,000
     Have not yet died.

     58,000
     Mothers, daughters, wives
     Have not yet cried.
     58,000
     Did not fall yet,
     The quota to make a wall
     Has not yet been met.

     From VietNam
     58,000
     Body bags came home;
     Jungle warfare was tough,
     Mid-East deserts deemed easy to roam,
     Combat assumed to never get rough.

     58,000
     Must die first;
     For oil and gas American appetite
     Shows an unquenchable thirst;
     58,000
     To stop other nations from daring
     To make demands for equal sharing.

     58,000
     Is a goal there is time to reach;
     For present low count casualties
     VietNam
     Has no lessons to teach.

     Families waiting
     Will get no happy greetings
     Til Rumsfeld holds
     One hundred more meetings;
     Colin must make more trips,
     DeLay must crack his whips,
     Speeches must be recited
     On the fourth of July
     Photo opportunities with wives
     Of husbands shipped off to die.

     58,000 never again--
     Where in hiding
     Have power brokers been?
     Command Macnamara
     To tell the true story,
     Washington warmongers deserve
     No star spangled glory,
     On the front lines
     The scene is always gory.

     White House power at risk
     Needed an Iraq fix;
     Exposed now

[[Page 12403]]

     Is what we always knew,
     Addiction for oil
     Infected the Neo-Com crew.

     Rumsfeld decrees
     That far across the seas
     There is no new VietNam;
     Every high tech trick
     Has not yet been tried
     We have not yet met
     The WMD enemy threat;
     Premature victory the White House tasted
     Because 58,000 lives
     Have not yet been wasted.

     Thank America
     For names carved in stone
     Pray for all children left alone
     When body bags bore their fathers home;
     Home of the brave
     Pledge to the credo
     Each life we must save,
     No more monuments
     But lasting peace we crave.

     58,000
     Have names on the wall,
     These heroes stand tall,
     From heaven their voices call,
     Blood soaked wisdom
     From truth trenches will crawl:
     58,000 never again!
     Rise to resist the squander
     Of the lives of brave men!

     58,000
     Did not fall yet,
     The quota to make a wall
     Has not yet been met.
     58,000!

                          ____________________