Vietnam, the War That Won't Heal

Three decades have passed since the last helicopter rose from the American embassy roof in Saigon, and in that time, our leaders still feel the need to announce, at regular intervals, that the Vietnam War is behind us. Yet, in stone-headed contradiction, they also regularly haul the nation into situations that repeat the bungled thinking behind that war. So here we are again, this time mired along the Euphrates instead of the Mekong. Listen up to a few of the obvious lessons of Vietnam: Military superiority alone cannot trump an adversary's political staying power. Never underestimate the forces of nationalism. The majority of the people in the country your army has entered may passively support the basic goals of your mission, but it is angry minorities who more often determine the outcome. No single nation-state, regardless of the immensity of its armed power, can carry out these missions mostly alone. The United States is now bending, economically and otherwise, under the costs of the mostly unilateral invasion and occupation of Iraq. [more ]