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Iraq Is Not Vietnam, by Jim Cox

Iraq Is Not Vietnam
by Jim Cox


A rising concern that Iraq is becoming the new Vietnam has prompted
many commentators to denounce any such comparisons as too ridiculous
to be entertained. Here’s a comparison of Iraq limited to 2003–2004
to match the first two years of US ground troop involvement in fighting
in Vietnam, 1965–1966, to show the difference:


Being a Comparison:

I: Iraq 2003–2004
V: Vietnam 1965–1966



1 Commander-in-Chief?
I: Texan, George W. Bush (with stateside duty during Vietnam war)
V: Texan, Lyndon B. Johnson (with stateside duty during World War II)


2 Justification for invasion?
I: Based on deceptions – WMD, 9/11, aluminum tubes, etc
V: Based on deceptions – Gulf of Tonkin


3 US Casualties?
I: 1,432 killed, 3,000+ wounded
V: 3,910 killed, 5,000+ wounded


4 War Declared by Congress as required by US Constitution?
I: No, instead a resolution authorizing the president to take action he deems necessary
V: No, instead a resolution authorizing the president to take action he deems necessary


5 Enemy?
I: Not a nation, but an abstraction – terrorism
V: Not a nation, but an abstraction – the spread of communism


6 Frontlines?
I: No frontlines, guerilla resistance
V: No frontlines, guerilla resistance


7 President makes TV appearance to reassure Americans of the necessity of the war?
I: Yes, after 2 years – 2005
V: Yes, after 3 years – 1968


8 Handling of the Federal Budget?
I: Guns and butter policy
V: Guns and butter policy


9 Party in control of Congress?
I: No check and balance as Congress is in the hands of the same party as the Presidency
V: No check and balance as Congress is in the hands of the same party as the Presidency


10 Troops?
I: Enlistments buttressed by deployment extensions, and National Guard and Reserves
V: Enlistments buttressed by draft


11 Troops in country?
I: 140,000
V: 200,000


12 Alliance?
I: minimal troops from allied countries
V: minimal troops from allied countries


13 History of country?
I: former colony of a European power (Britain, 1917–1932)
V: former colony of a European power (France, 1887–1954)


14 Hoped for Solution?
I: Iraqification [1]
V: Vietnamization [2]


15 Most extreme suggestion?
I: Michael Savage: "Drop a nuclear bomb on the Sunni triangle."
V: Curtis LeMay: "Bomb them back to the stone age."


Thus, we can all take comfort securely in our knowledge that Iraq is not Vietnam;
Vietnam is spelled with a "V" and is in Southeast Asia, Iraq is spelled with
an "I" and is in Southwest Asia.

July 15, 2005

Jim Cox is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Lawrenceville Campus
of Georgia Perimeter College and author of Minimum Wage, Maximum Damage.


Copyright © 2005 LewRockwell.com

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/cox5.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mparent7777/#entry_1078620


[2] "Vietnamization"

Nixon was elected President and began his policy of slow disengagement
from the war. The goal was to gradually build up the South Vietnamese Army
so that it could fight the war on its own. This policy became the cornerstone
of the so-called "Nixon Doctrine". As applied to Vietnam, the doctrine was
called "Vietnamization".

The stated goal of Vietnamization was to enable the South Vietnamese army
to increasingly hold its own against the NLF and the North Vietnamese Army.
The unstated goal of Vietnamization was that the primary burden of combat
would be returned to ARVN troops and thereby lessen domestic opposition
to the war in the U.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamization




[1] "Iraqification"

Bush flagged his strategy [which] calls for rapidly increasing
the Iraqification of the conflict. By Thursday (October 30)
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Dundes Wolfowitz,
were spelling out what this meant.

The idea is to push many more Iraqi police and security officials into
the front lines against the insurgency while at the same time declaring
political victory on the ground."

"After days of being confronted with mounting US casualties, the
Administration tried to present Americans with a coherent plan
to assure them Iraq will not be Mr Bush's Vietnam. One aim
of that plan, it appears, is to start pulling US forces out
of Iraq as early as March next year in time for Mr Bush's
re-election campaign.

"What the US is going to do, Mr Bush said, is 'implement
the strategy which is (to) encourage Iraqis to help deal
with the security issues'."

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iraqification
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posted by Annamarie at 2:07 PM