The echoes of Vietnam emanating from Iraq are all too clear

The echoes of Vietnam emanating from Iraq are all too clear

(EXCERPT) Robert Scheer

November 18, 2003

Here we go again. Only now it's the "Iraqification" rather than the
"Vietnamization" of a quagmire war in another distant and increasingly
hostile land.

Washington's puppets are once again said to be on the verge of getting
their act together, and the American people are daily assured that we
are about to turn the corner. Soon we will be able to give Iraq back
to the Iraqis, and some distant day the United States will get out. In
the meantime, U.S. troops must continue in a "support role" while
being maimed and killed with increasing frequency.

Sorry to appear so jaded, but it has been nearly 40 years since I was
briefed in Saigon by U.S. officials about the great progress being
made in turning the affairs of South Vietnam over to Washington's
handpicked leaders of that country. I was also told with great
emotional forcefulness that it would be irresponsible to just leave,
given the dire consequences for world freedom.

Iraq is not Vietnam, and this is not 1964. But there are enough
pillars for this analogy that we should remember some of the lessons
of our last attempt to remake a nation in our image.

First, we never managed to build "our" stable Vietnam government; one
gang of incompetents and thieves simply replaced another, until — 10
years and millions of deaths later — we finally left, under the most
ignominious circumstances.

Second, after Saigon fell, the anticipated security disaster for the
United States and the region didn't happen. To the contrary, communist
Vietnam and communist China soon went to war with each other, leaving
the U.S. in a far stronger position to exert its influence on both of
those nations and the rest of Asia.

Third, and perhaps most important, in Vietnam then and Iraq now,
guerrilla tactics by "the...

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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com