51 Vietnam vets gathered in Utah this weekend and discussed, among other things, whether Iraq has turned into another Vietnam.

Through two days of bring-your-own-wine receptions and lingering breakfasts in the downtown hotel here where the veterans had gathered, the answer was rarely a simple yes or no. For every 10 similarities, these veterans said, there are 10 subtle ways that Iraq seems different. Still, every answer was rooted in something that most Americans lack: intimate, vivid knowledge, much of it still raw despite the years, of the Vietnam War experience.

Iraq is charged with religion, some said, while Vietnam was more about the politics of nationalism. Some said the lack of an exit strategy from Iraq made Vietnam a parallel, while others argued that global terrorism had changed everything and comparisons with the 1960's were not possible.

Others said they thought the United States was getting in deeper every day in the Middle East and that Mr. Bush must take the blame. "Doing something that you know instinctively is wrong and continuing to do it is the height of folly — I fear that's where we are," said Robb Ruyle, who was in charge of patient records for the 71st Evac. Mr. Ruyle, now a small-business owner in Montrose, Colo., is married to a triage nurse he met in Pleiku, the former Lynn Morgan, and has a son, Thomas, who is now serving in Iraq as an infantry intelligence specialist.