Cronkite sees parallels between Vietnam, Iraq

WATERVILLE – Walter Cronkite said the American presence in Iraq strongly resembles the military’s adventure in Vietnam during the height of his career, which included 18 years as the CBS Evening News anchorman. “I don’t find any real substance in the argument that there’s no parallel, which is what the administration would like,” he said. “I’m not saying Iraq is hopeless, but at the present moment, we are facing an intensifying guerrilla war, and it is taking a great deal of our people and treasury.”

Cronkite also said there are still unanswered questions about President Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq after Bush’s TV interview last weekend.

Cronkite, who was in New York, fielded questions by telephone from students in a Thomas College journalism class taught by Sandor Polster, who spent a third of his journalism career working with Cronkite.

Cronkite, 87, was not dismissive of modern politics or the media, but he derided cable talk shows for masquerading opinions as news and questioned news organizations’ priorities.

“Unfortunately, there’s not enough coverage of the important news of the day, and far too much coverage of the trivial,” he said.