Here we go again.......

[Ketou]

Iraq to be a Vietnam: retired general

AUSTRALIA'S involvement in Iraq would end in disaster just like Vietnam, a retired general said today.

Major General Alan Stretton said the Government would eventually bow to public pressure and withdraw the troops, leaving behind a bloody mess.

Prime Minister John Howard has rejected comparisons with Vietnam, saying such analogies are misplaced.

Maj Gen Stretton, who served as chief of staff of the Australian force in Vietnam from 1969-70 but is best remembered for his role heading relief operations in Darwin following Cyclone Tracy in 1974, said there could never be democracy in Iraq.

He said the Government was being irresponsible in sending even more troops.

....."This talk about fighting for democracy, that is absolute, to use a phrase, bullshit," he said.