The Parallels Between Iraq and Vietnam

The political (& military) parallels between the war in Iraq and the war in Vietnam are too big to ignore. Although the two wars have some significant differences, they also have big similarities; such as troops dealing with boobie traps around every corner, troops unclear about who is friend or foe among people who all appear to be civilians... troops often don't know who is shooting at them, and troops are becoming disillusioned & confused about why they are still there- all of these things were issues in Vietnam. You also had a political leadership during the Vietnam War that did not want to give in to common sense, and in an attempt to preserve political legacies they risked and expended the lives of thousands of soldiers. None of the political leaders of the time wanted to be responsible for "retreating" and presiding over a lost cause. In the end, the U.S. had to pull out anyway. By not acting sooner, these politicians wasted American lives and wrecked many American families.

Some suggest that the Bush administration plan in Iraq is similar to what was tried in Vietnam....with troop surges, etc. Some call the Bush plan the Vietnamization of Iraq.

Here is an old blog entry of a Vietnam Documentary that looks at these issues.

Thanks to The African American Political Pundit for bringing up Vietnam and connecting the two wars. It reminded me of the documentary and discussion that I posted several months ago.
See his blog entry here.


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My previous post on the troop increase in Iraq

I personally believe that the increase in troops will only mean more targets for the insurgents to attack.