I just wanted to post a quick blog for comment. It isnt one of our objectives for the week, but as I was reading I thought it relevant enough to discuss.
I was reading about the Vietnam War in our book and even though I knew most of the details, reading about it after having been stationed in Iraq hit me rather hard.
If you take a pen and scratch out "Vietnam" and insert "Iraq" in most of those pages, it reads like today's newspaper on our operations in Iraq. Now I am not anti-Iraq war. I spent a good share of 2006 and 2007 there and can tell you first hand that the work we did over there while not understood by a majority of free Americans, did a lot of good.
But to play devil's advocate, I am sure that those on the ground in Vietnam in battling the on-slaught of communism didn't consier some of the ruthless tactics that the South Vietnam government under Diem used to flush out anti-government "insurgents" would have provoked many to revolt. One must not forget how the United States was established - by insurgents who were tired of British provocation.
Anyways, I know this subject was off topic, but it was on my mind. comment as you please.
I will be running in the marathon tomorrow and heading for the cruise ship to recover. I will post again as I get internet access!
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I think there are clearly some similarities between Iraq and Vietnam, as you point out. This week I wrote about American involvement in the Philippines and how the United States liberated them from the Spanish. Over 4,000 Americans died fighting in the Philippines for their freedom and had to fight an insurgency there as well. The entire operation was conducted under the guise of liberation and civilizing missionary-like work. We gave them our model of government (executive, legislative, and judicial branches) and English. However, they were not completely happy with us, as our liberation actually acted to cement the power of the Pilipino elites and create liberal trade policies between them and US. They have since asked us politely to leave their country, which we did after Mount Pinatubo erupted, losing our largest overseas military base. I think the Iraq War and the Philippines are very similar, too. It would be a situation where we were not defeated militarily, as in Vietnam (although that is arguable), but rather able to hang on to the area, influence, but eventually forced out of influence as they seek closer association with their natural partners in the region. The same is happening with the Philippines as they break ties with the U.S. in favor of trade and political interaction with their Asian neighbors, many of whom have specialized their markets and become relatively prosperous. You’re right, though, it seems like history does repeat itself. And sometimes, as with the Philippines conflict, I was not even really aware of the history! I wonder how many other examples there are in our American history of instances repeating themselves today?
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