Iraq and Vietnam

There are a lot of parallels betwen Iraq and Vietnam. A deeply conservative, single-mindedly pro-US prime minister sends Australian troops into an internationally unpopular war started on the basis of lies. Then it was to defeat international communism, supposedly on the verge of destroyng the west, this time it is international terrorism. Growing dissent within the US itself is ignored by the Australian government. The war drags on, without a viable government in the war-torn country, and threatens to spread to nearby countries.
There are abut 800 Australian military personnel in Iraq; the first major contingent of Australian troops to Vietnam numbered 800 - eventually there were 8,000.
Of course that time the British resisted US pressure and stayed out of it, but at the time Britain had a Labour prime minister.