What's the difference between Iraq and VietNam?

[hexola]

Bush knew how to get out of VietNam!

[T Wolf]

1. There were fewer lies told about Nam.

On balance, the Vietnam "police action" was less illegitimate than the shit * hass put us into.

[rkc3]

2. It took 9 years to reach 1,000 deaths in Vietnam.

[andyhappy]

3. whoa!

I didn't know that!

[rkc3]

6. I heard that on NPR during the Swift Boat Vets stuff.

Lots of us don't realize how long we were in Vietnam before the shit really hit the fan. I didn't.

[andyhappy]

7. and now the tide is turning

they keep showing all these polls about how support for the war is waning....give me a fucking break.

what were these people thinking before? That this war 'kicked ass'?

oiy!

[Silverhair]

17. What date do you take as your starting point? NT

[rkc3]

18. That's the weak link in my statement - the number was given in an

interview on NPR in October regarding a comparison between Vietnam and Iraq. I assumed, based on what little knowledge I have on Vietnam, was that this was from the very first foray in the country - before it even became a police action.

[Cleita]

4. Bush didn't get out of VietNam, Nixon did.

Other than that:

There was a draft.

Vietnam was covered better journalistically.

On edit. I get it now, you meant AWOL knew how to get out of VietNam.

[micrometer_50]

5. I won't be

drafted for Iraq.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi micrometer_50!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[micrometer_50]

25. Thanks.

And happy holidays to you.

[Squatch]

8. About 70 degrees of longitude

[burn the bush]

9. the vietnamese had a yellowish skin tone while the iraqi's are a browner

tone.

[secedeeconomically]

10. No nuclear country is country is supporting Iraq

[EmpireWeAre]

11. Why does Georgie Boy play nice with Vlad "I looked into his soul" Putin?

The biggest difference I see between the two wars is the backing of a major military power. Russia and China backed North Vietnam. There is no major player backing the U.S. opposition.

The U.S. goal is still the same in both wars; global hegemony, with Iraq having the added bonus of resource control.

It would get really ugly in Iraq if a major military hardware producer poured money and hardware into the country. Kind of like what we did to the USSR in Afghanistan.

If Russia or China or whoever started flooding Iraq with shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missiles and 1-2 man tank killer weapons, the U.S. and Iraqi causality rates would skyrocket.
And over time it would seriously bleed our economy much more than the war is doing now.
Just look at the damage being done with AK-47's, RPG's and homemade bombs. Now throw in thousands of portable weapons capable of taking out M1 tanks, Bradley's, helicopters and low flying aircraft.

Georgie plays nice with Vlad cause Vlad has Georgie by the balls.

[smitty]

12. viet nam vs iraq

No difference.

P.S. How did it take 9 years for the American death toll to reach 1,000? Please provice a time frame.

[Minstrel Boy]

13. Vietnam was a "domino." It was a geostrategic game. Iraq

is not a game.

The survival of the "American way of life" and the US as the world's sole hyperpower hinges upon projecting US power into the Middle East, controling the dwindling oil fields, and denying them to its rivals.

Vietnam was, essentially, a sideshow on the fringe of the empire. The Middle East is the engine of empire.

If it's a game, it's the end game.

[annabanana]

14. The war in Vietnam is over..................n/t

[rndmprsn]

15. good one...my buddy thought so too

=]

[indigobusiness]

16. Exactly....n/t

[Razorback_Democrat]

19. one is a jungle and the other a desert?

I like the original answer better

[JI7]

20. i think most of the Vietnamese were more united as one people

there weren't major divisions among the vietnamese people as there are among the iraqi people. the vietnamese have a long history together .

iraq has divisions such as sunni, shiite, kurds, etc. also iraq was created this recently as a nation. they weren't living as one people in that one nation for years as the vietnamese people were.

[PurityOfEssence]

21. In Vietnam, we were sustaining the power elite; in Iraq, we're conquerors

Vietnam was an outgrowth of colonial power, whereas Iraq is nothing short of thievery. The Vietnamese were also a fairly homogeneous people, whereas Iraq is yet another mistake of the Versailles Treaty.

[Solly Mack]

23. rimshot

[indepat]

24. Desert vs. jungles and according to Babara Tuchman, America betrayed

herself in Vietnam.