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Blogs by Patrick J McCormick
The question of Irak 11/2/2006 5:28:32 PM
I have heard many people say Irak is another Vietnam. Many call to bring the troops home. One big difference I notice is a support for the troops regardless of whether one agrees with the war or not. That did not happen in Vietnam. With Vietnam since many did not agree with the war and did not support the troops it was easy to bring the troops home. Will it be that easy to bring them home this time. In Vietnam the North moved in to the vacuum left behind when the troops were withdrawn and this had no affect on the USA. I think we know who will move into the vacuum if we pull the troops out of Irak. Do we believe this will have no affect on the USA. There are many similarities between Irak and Vietnam. If we look at Irak just on its own both can easily be described as a mistake for the USA to get involved in. In both cases the people of those countries were not in agreement with the troops being there and many young Americans lost their lives. Both provided great opportunities for playing politics. Both provided great opportunities for ambitious reporters.
However it is not the similarities I wonder about, it is the differences. Many treated the troops badly during Vietnam, but in Irak it is just the opposite. Everyone wants to get on the bandwagon to support the troops. This is indeed very refreshing and nice to see. I cannot help but wonder if this might in part be caused by guilt in how the troops were treated during and after Vietnam. There are news stories about wrongs committed by US troops in both wars, but so far I have not seen a reporter put a story ahead of the safety of the troops as happened in Vietnam. For example when a newspaper revealed to the world the cry for help from four captured airmen, which then brought them a beating rather than help. The USA was not in any war with another country during Vietnam. It was in a global war against Terrists, when it attacked Irak. The attack on Irak may have been a tactical or even a strategic error in that war, but a loss in Irak will give great encouragement to many terrorist sympathizers and probably result in many terrorist recruits. When the USA pulled out of Vietnam they faced no greater loss than a severe loss of face. If the USA pulls out of Irak they will leave chaos behind, probable cival war, and a vacuum for the terrorists to fill. If the terrorists gain control of Irak they will be in a much stronger possition than they were in Afganistan. They will have all the revenue from their oil to finance their war of terror against the US and its allies.
The USA should try to avoid the divisions, which was one of the greatest boosts of morale and encouragement to continue the fight by the Viet Cong.
