'Wait — we won Vietnam?' GOP lawmaker's Iran war argument leaves observers speechless

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) insisted on The Todd Starnes Show Tuesday that America should commit to overwhelming firepower against Iran to win the war — just like the nation did in Vietnam.

"We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won," said McCormick. "As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over, the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it's technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend."

Social media observers quickly pointed out a glaring problem with McCormick's argument.

"WTF! We DID NOT WIN the Vietnam war before or after B-52 strikes in 1968. WE LOST," wrote Navy veteran and foreign policy analyst Malcolm Nance. "Does no one teach these little s---- real history anymore?

"'And then we won' is quite some interpretation of the Vietnam War," wrote The Hill White House columnist Niall Stanage.

"Wait ... we won Vietnam? Huh. Weird. Must have jumped timelines again," wrote anti-Trump strategist Rick Wilson.

"And that’s why Saigon is called Ho Chi Minh City," wrote former Naval War College professor and The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols.

"This is a man who does not know his history," wrote University of California San Diego political science professor Branislav Slantchev. "Rolling Thunder failed, badly. And it failed despite achieving its stated objectives in terms of destroying the designated targets. The guy might be thinking about Linebacker I and II but these were totally different seeing as they did target an invading conventional army, not the nebulous “will to fight” of the Viet Cong and their Hanoi enablers."

"Wow. A new contender for dumbest member of the House," wrote political scientist Norm Ornstein.

"Yep, we won Vietnam," wrote conspiracy theorist expert Mike Rothschild. "Those guys on the rooftop getting on the last chopper out of Saigon were leaving with their heads held high, having won Vietnam."

"Beginning to suspect many of America’s elected officials actually know very little about history," wrote veteran and correspondent Mac William Bishop.

"This kind of talk makes me nervous that some of our leadership thinks clear victory is just a few more strikes away," wrote war analysis YouTuber Preston Stewart. "The lesson from those past conflicts isn’t ’not enough bombs’, it was failing to align tactical victory to strategic success."