One important lesson learned from Vietnam

Let's hope President Bush doesn't wind up having much in common with another man the nation honored last week -- the late President Gerald Ford, who was on watch during the ignominious collapse of South Vietnam.

Sen. Ben Nelson praised Bush for establishing "benchmarks for progress -- or conditions for staying -- for the Iraqi government to meet," as well as Bush's call for the creation of jobs as a means for reducing violence.

He despairs, however, at the dismissal of the Iraq Study Group's and senior military leaders "who have all but unanimously said that sending more troops to Iraq is not the answer.

"After two meetings at the White House in the last five days, I am not convinced that sending in an additional 21,000 troops will quell the sectarian violence or stabilize Baghdad," Nelson said in a release Wednesday night.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, who may be positioning himself for a run for president, was more blunt.

"This is a dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost," the Vietnam War veteran said.

Opponents of Bush's strategy may argue that the president didn't learn the lesson from Vietnam that escalation won't pay off.

We hope they're wrong, and that Bush's strategy of freeing the military from artificial restrictions pays off, resulting in an Iraq that can function as a civilized, free nation.

But even if they're right, there is one important lesson all of us learned from Vietnam, and need to continue to embrace.

The lesson is that those who fight the war need to be supported and honored -- both the troops and their families during deployment, and again when the troops return home.