Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton," says he sees similarities in that failed effort and the current fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
"The thing that really bothers me about this very gradual increase, this is what lost the Vietnam War, this kind of gradual escalation," McCain
told Yahoo News.
In the ISIS fight, President Barack Obama first sent no ground troops, then 500, then another 1,500, McCain said Thursday on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren." The administration also has gradually escalated air activity.
The parallels are not exact, he said, but one that troubles him the most is the fact that the White House isn't listening to the military, he said.
In a recent panel discussion, former Defense secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta complained about micromanagement from a small group of people in the White House disregarding the advice of military leaders, he said.
"That's what's really alarming," McCain told Van Susteren.
"ISIS is winning," he said, adding that 18,000 Europeans and other outsiders are now fighting for ISIS and it is expected to take a year or more before Mosul can be retaken from ISIS.
"This is an unfolding testimony to this president's indecision and fecklessness, and we're going to pay a really heavy price for it," McCain said.
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