Now that an early withdrawal from Iraq is on the table, the comparison to Vietnam is gaining legitimacy. In the minds of many ending the Vietnam War through withdrawal of American troops was the morally right thing to do because it brought peace. Ergo, withdrawing from Iraq is the right thing to do.

Peace, however, has a prize as well. According to R.J. Rummel (Death by Government), 2,932,000.00 people died in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as the result of war and democide between 1954 and 1972. In the post-war area, between 1975 and 1987, 4,157,000.00 died as a result of democide and local wars. That means during the Indochina and Vietnam War about 140,000 people a year were killed, but in the post-war area roughly 346,000 people a year. Peace, it appears, can be deadly.