US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday dismissed comparison between Iraq and the Vietnam War and said Iraq was not a "swamp" that was going to devour the United States.  

"I don't think these types of comparisons are terribly helpful. Vietnam was another part of the world, another time in history, and we ought to see the situation for what it is today and not try to find comparisons that can then be painted in a negative light," Powell said when testifying before a Senate committee.

"This is quite different. We have an army over there that knows what it is doing. We have a people that want to be free in a democratic society. We do not have huge, state sponsors outside of Iraq, flooding the place with weaponry and manpower," he said.

"It is not a swamp that is going to devour us," Powell said.

Over 630 US military personnel have died in Iraq since the United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, and the clashes with the Shiite Muslim militiamen since April 4 have claimed lives of more than 20 US soldiers.

In comparison, as many as 58,000 US troops were killed in the Vietnam War.

Despite the rising casualties in Iraq, US President George W. Bush has vowed to stay the course and stick by a plan to hand over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on June 30.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2004)