KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- President Bush drew parallels between the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the potential costs of pulling out of Iraq in a speech Wednesday. President Bush draws parallels Wednesday between the cost of pulling out of Iraq and "the tragedy of Vietnam." "Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left," Bush told members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, at their convention in Kansas City, Missouri. "Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields,' " the president said.
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NEW: Kennedy: Bush drawing wrong lesson from history
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President says withdrawing from Iraq will embolden terrorists
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Speech is latest White House attempt to try to reframe the debate over Iraq
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"@placeholder lost the war in Vietnam because our troops were trapped in a distant country we did not understand supporting a government that lacked sufficient legitimacy with its people," Kennedy said in a statement.
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"America lost the war in @placeholder because our troops were trapped in a distant country we did not understand supporting a government that lacked sufficient legitimacy with its people," Kennedy said in a statement.
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Gergen said he did agree with Bush in one respect, though: "He's right, initially when we pulled back in @placeholder there were massive killings."
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"Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from @placeholder carried no price to American credibility, but the terrorists see things differently," Bush said.