Vietnam and Iraq have more similarities than differences

[Emillereid]

http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/?uc_full_date=20031104



<snip>

I remembered well how Gerry, then the Rand Corp.'s top man in Vietnam, had meticulously explained for us the cultures and behavior of highland tribes such as the Montagnards, but also the Viet Cong and the "pro-American" Saigon government.


"And now we're doing the same thing all over again," he said as we talked about Iraq. "First, we suffer from the same invincible ignorance about Iraq that we suffered over Vietnamese culture. Second, in Vietnam we set the military impact with no concern about our effect on South Vietnamese culture. By the time we left in 1975, they were just exhausted. They were just tired out -- and so was I.


"It is so sad now that I can see the same mistakes being made in Iraq. The GIs busting down the doors, breaking into homes, doing everything wrong. But, you know something," he went on, sadness outlining his voice, "I'm shocked at much of what we are seeing in Iraq: The Americans are much crueler than they were in Vietnam. Remember, when American correspondents found American troops burning down houses -- that was remarkable then; today it's the norm."

<snip>
Despite the myriad voices in the press insisting, "Iraq is not a Vietnam!" the indisputable fact is that, if you consider the passions and principles applied there, it really IS another Vietnam. Among the causes for the war are obscurantist theories about foreign threats that have little basis in reality; civilians at the top who play with the soldiers they have never been; and the underlying lies that give credence to special interests (the Bay of Tonkin pretense in Vietnam, the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq). ...


It does seem like deja vu all over again -- except that as with everything else in our 24/7 world, it seems to be happening in fast forward compared to Vietnam.

[Cha]

1. And it's only going to get

More "similiar".

Thanks for this.

[number6]

2. see my Cambodian moment Post... or

go to

http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc3354.html

yes its looking more similar than different