The conflict in Iraq is "much more serious" than the war in Vietnam and any comparison between the two is misplaced, the European Union's external relations commissioner said today.
"The comparison... that Iraq could become as difficult an issue as Vietnam is misplaced, because I think it is arguably much more serious," Mr Chris Patten told a news conference after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Tullamore, Co Offaly.
"If things go wrong in Iraq we will be living with the consequences for a very, very long time," he added.
An upsurge of violence in Iraq and a spate of hostage takings have prompted comparisons in the United States between the situation in Iraq and the Vietnam war.
US Democrat Senator Edward Kennedy has called the US occupation of Iraq President "George Bush's Vietnam", tapping into the painful memories of the American people.