Five points about Vietnam and Iraq

REGARDING JEFF JACOBY'S Aug. 25 column ''Iraq is no Vietnam":

Besides the obvious points that most of the Sept. 11 attackers were Saudis, not Iraqis, and that many experts on terror are telling us that Iraq has become a breeding ground for terror, which it was not before we invaded, here are a few of the ways in which I think the wars in Vietnam and Iraq are very much alike:

Both are wars of choice, and Iraq and Vietnam were fifth-rate miltary powers that had never attacked us.

Both wars were undertaken with vague and shifting aims, and both had no obvious signposts for victory.

Both wars are directed at insurgents, an infinitely more difficult miltary target than a unifomed standing army.

Both are ultimately wars for ''hearts and minds," for which experience has shown that a military solution is usually counterproductive.

Both wars have encouraged deception from our miltary and civilian leaders as it becomes increasingly difficult to justify a conflict that is costing far more than anticipated and for which there is no end in sight.

SANDRA HEILER, Sudbury