Comparing Iraq to Vietnam

[ProSense]

September 19, 2005

Is Iraq Another Vietnam?

By Kenneth Martens Friesen

Snip...

Vietnamese vs. Iraqi Society

...Ninety percent of Vietnam’s people share the same ethnic background, language and culture. Part of their unity also comes from their successful opposition to external threats. In the 20th century alone, the Vietnamese successfully fought off France, Japan, the United States and China.

...The borders roughly incorporated three very different societies: Kurds in the north, Sunni Arabs in the center and Shiite Arabs in the south. Rather than looking like united Vietnam, Iraq appears a boiling cauldron of cultures and beliefs.

Snip...

Contrast that to Iraq, where the initial explicit U.S. goal was simply to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein. When President Bush declared “mission accomplished” back in May 2003 his administration perceived that their main goal had been achieved. Major combat operations were ended. The idea was that whatever came afterwards was to be dealt with by Iraq’s new leaders, with a grateful, unified Iraqi population thankful for the U.S. intervention.

Similarities in U.S. Military Policy

Unfortunately one similarity in the two conflicts is the way in which the U.S. badly misread the situation on the ground. In the war in Vietnam, the U.S. consistently believed that it was primarily communist ideology that was the driving force behind the North’s desire to unify the country. It was only 30 years later that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara admitted that the U.S. was “wrong, dead wrong” in its assessment of the conflict in Vietnam. Nationalism and a determination to drive out all foreigners was the inspiration that drove the Vietnamese to sacrifice more than a million of their own people before the war was finally over.

In Iraq the U.S. has again seriously misread the situation on the ground. The discordant history and divided culture of Iraq has quickly trumped the expected unity of the post-Saddam state. This historical lack of a cohesive, stable society, combined with religious fervor (enough to inspire a generation of young Iraqis to strap explosive belts around their waists), has revealed the true difficulty of establishing a genuine peace in Iraq. Unlike in Vietnam, where the nation stabilized after the war was over, in Iraq there is likely to be turmoil for years to come. The reason for this lies in the very different history and culture of the two countries. The explosive mix of ethnic and religious fragmentation that was not present in Vietnam has made a peaceful future for Iraq very difficult indeed.

more...

http://www.fresno.edu/scholarsspeak/kmfriesen/9-19-2005.php

[kurth]

1. Same shit, different day

Some presidents are retarded.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. Comparing Iraq to Vietnam is especially valid since bushie blew it

By starting the Civil War in Iraq, Republicans have created a long-term political mess that will feed the Military Industrial Complex for decades.

[laugle]

3. Good article! Saddam ruled through fear and I suspect

that another leader, albeit a religious one will do the same. It's already happening with the death sqauds!

Those of us, like myself who remember Vietnam well, knew along time ago this was and is not a "winable" war! That's why it is so unnerving to hear the bullshit propaganda Bushco delivers. Lies, lies and more lies........

The question is how many more people will need to die before people wake up and put an end to this useless, criminal mission built on lies??

I wish I had the answer........