Seeing Iraq, thinking Vietnam (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent

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The Vietnam War certainly divided a generation of Americans. But it did not lead to the collapse of American influence that Leslie Gelb feared.

Skilful diplomacy and a world still chilled by the Cold War helped the US to manage the consequences of its defeat. So Vietnam had dramatic and lasting implications at home but only limited consequences abroad.

Re-building from scratch

A series of discussions in Washington suggests that the current conflict in Iraq will be quite the opposite - limited consequences at home, but a dramatic and lasting impact abroad.
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The strain on the US military is matched by the strain on America's image abroad. Opinion is strongly negative even in countries that are close allies of the US.
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"In my judgement," {David Gergen} went on - acknowledging that what he was going to say might sound overstated - "the next president of the United States is going to face the toughest set of problems of any new chief executive since Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression."
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7122241.stm

Even a broken clock is right twice a day, so don't give too much credit to Gergen for seeing the obvious.

[unhappycamper]

1. Viet Nam and Iraq

We went into Viet Nam based on lies. Remember the Tonkin Gulf resolution and the Domino theory?

In addition to destroying Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, our military, and 58,000 soldiers outright, the Viet Nam battle still resonates within the American public. Veterans are still fighting that war 30 fucking years after it was ended.

If you would like to see some of the effects of Viet Nam, go to a VA hospital - they are holding pens for broken men and women.

If you want to see the effects of war on people where you live, go take a look around you on the streets of your hometown. One in four of the homeless people on the streets are veterans. Those veterans represent 25% of the homeless, yet represent only 11% of the adult population in that country.

There are approximately 800,000 backlogged cases of PTSD and TBI at the Veterans Administration. Where do you think those men and women will end up? Even more importantly, how will they end up?

The government was wise enough not to compile statistics about the number of suicides as a direct result of the Viet Nam war/action/whatever. But the VA admits to 5,000 veteran suicides a year. And the VA does nothing about it.

From where I sit, Viet Nam and Iraq are the same. Except Iraq has oil and more sand.


Class of 67~68: Chu Lai
Class of 69~70: Cu Chi