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Introduction
Despite their differences in time, loci, as well as historical circumstances, the unfolding events in the Iraqi and the Vietnam Wars are characterized by many similarities. At the outset, the origin of the two wars have been attributed to the US foreign policies that are seen as dictatorial and colonialist as the superpower seek to expand its influence in foreign cultures as well as sustain domestic political support in a prolonged war against irregular enemies (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 1) The Vietnam offensive in 1968 was viewed negatively by the American citizens having caused about fifty seven thousand American lives. It was seen as a military failure on the side of President Lyndon Johnson who had to forfeit his re-election bid due to the negative public opinion against the war. Likewise, the Iraqi war has been characterized by similar events and the increasing deaths of American soldiers. The war tarnished the image of Republicans under the Bush administration enemies (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2). On the other hand, the two aforementioned offensives in Vietnam and Iraq have differences too. The differences are manifested in the military as well as strategic perspectives of the two wars. For instance, the differences are witnessed in a variety of circumstances including the scale of the military operations, the strategic environment within which the wars occurred, the magnitude of losses incurred, the role of enemy allies, the quality of enemy resistance as well as the duration of warfare (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2).
The US foreign policies have been questioned by many people across the world given its unwarranted and indecisive actions against sovereign states. The invasion of Iraq for instance raised eyebrows among opponents who compared the war to that of Vietnam claiming that the US had indulged in an affair where withdrawal may prove challenging to achieve. The US embarked on an invasion of Iraq citing its interest in creating a politically stable and democratic country. Such an initiative has prompted comparison with the Vietnam offensive of 1968. The opponents of the Iraqi war argue that US had made a wrong decision by invading Iraq on the basis of uncovering the weapons of mass destruction which the country was accused of harboring (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2). However, the objectives of the Iraq war were not realized as the claimed weapons could not be found. Instead, the escalation of violence in the communist State is on the rise day by day as witnessed in the Vietnam War which was characterized by similar scenes. Apart from the deaths of foreigners as well as citizens, the US military and its allies continue to 6record fatalities in Iraq due to the escalating violence caused by the war in the country (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2).
Both the Vietnam War and the Iraq war were orchestrated by constant deceit and misrepresentation the US administrations preached to the world. The Johnson administration delivered the same positive message concerning the offensive against Vietnam which later proved to be a lie. The US government under Johnson claimed that the fall of Vietnam would result into the takeover of Asia by communist (Hess, 2009, 75). On the other hand, Bush administration used the same strategy to invade Iraq and the world realized the claims raised by the administration against Iraq were also false. Bush claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in addition to having a link with the dreaded Al Qaeda. He further asserted that the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein would ensure peace between Palestine and Israel in addition to enhancing democracy all over the Middle East region (Hess, 2009, 75). The credibility of both Johnson and Bush administrations were dented leading to political losses as the former president forfeited his re-election bid and the republicans losing polls in what was seen as the negative public perception of the republicans. In both the scenes, US administration was seen as lacking elaborate plans to execute such military actions against the foreign state or insurgents as claimed (Hess, 2009, 75).
Furthermore, the strategy and tactics applied by US government in both the wars are similar. The war in Iraq for instance has proven challenging to the US troops in a myriad of ways (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212). To begin with, the US troops are indulging in a guerrilla war and the insurgents know it better than they do given the rugged terrain in the country. The insurgents always engage the US troops in timely and systematic attacks and always avoid concentrating in areas where the US may launch their attacks (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212). Moreover, the insurgents have always adopted the urban warfare by staying in close proximity to the US troops and attacking the troops after which they take cover by using the civilians as human shield. Consequently, the US troops are finding it difficult to attack the insurgents without killing many Iraqi civilians. Just as witnessed in Vietnam offensive of 1968, the enemy has proven intelligent to deal with. He does not conform to the US rules and play his own version of the war game instead. Finally, the enemy is willing to die on the ground of his belief which he can not forfeit (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212).
Besides, the US government is finding a bit difficult to balance between winning hearts and minds using aid and post-war reconstruction and using force to eliminate insurgents in the alien territories. Just like in the Vietnam War, American government resorted to post-war reconstruction including the building of schools as well as hosting games such as soccer in Iraq (Hess, 2009, 75). On the other hand, the US government believed in the use of firepower as witnessed in both counts. In Vietnam for instance, the superpower dropped bombs in Indochina that could be compared to the number of bombs dropped in the rest of the world up to the time of Vietnam offensive. Finally, the failure by the US government to provide accurate record counts of the number of civilian casualties in wars has been utilized in both the wars in Vietnam and Iraq (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2). The US military has always misreported the casualties during the wars in Iraq due to the heightened number of civilian deaths. Such deaths are always reported as insurgents and not civilians. This was also evident in Vietnam where the civilians were reported as insurgents. It is therefore noteworthy that the lives of those deliberated from war as claimed by the US government are not as important as those of the deliberator (Record, & Terrill, 2004, 2).
On the other hand, proponents of the Iraqi war detest such comparison of the two wars claiming their sharp differences. At the outset, they argue that the country of Iraq is a moderately young state overwhelmed by heightened religious and ethnic divisions that threaten national unity compared to Vietnam that had been well established in the sixties (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212). It had a powerful national identity as well as a long national history created by a long period of violent resistance to foreign rule. Moreover, the US went into Vietnam War with a highly-skilled and experienced enemy who enjoyed international support as well as legitimacy considered to the war in Iraq where the US allies easily overwhelmed the weaker military which has been politically isolated.
Additionally, whereas the war in Iraq moved steadily fast from conventional conflict to insurgency, the nature of Vietnam War moved in the opposite direction from insurgency to a conventional war. Moreover, the insurgents in Iraq were engaged in smaller-scale attacks against the US and its allies without elaborate objectives (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212). The small and scattered groups indulged in such attacks as car bombs, assassination and ambushes against the US and its allies compared to the Vietnam communists who had well planned and executed attacks against the foreign forces resulting to a conventional victory. Besides, they had an elaborate economic, political as well as social objective of the insurgency. Finally, the war in Vietnam was limited in military operation as the US was only seeking to defend South Vietnam without intending to overthrow the North. Its military action in Indochina was also supervised by the Chinese whose intervention would have been a threat to the US. In contrast, the US enjoys military freedom in Iraq due to its superiority (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212).
Conclusion
The US foreign policies have so far raised eyebrows among many states globally. Its attempts to colonize sovereign states in a bid to expand its political and military superiority have been met by opposition from all sectors worldwide. The two wars in Vietnam and Iraq demonstrates the superpower’s dictatorial nature as the real causes of such invasion are not established. The two wars have so far displayed a lot of similarities including the lame excuses US government provided as the cause of such invasion, the strategy and tactics used in both the cases, the heightened escalation of violence during such wars, the poor plans adopted by the US and its allies, the similar tactics used by the enemies in both cases as well as the misreporting by the US military concerning the civilian casualties in both the wars. However, some differences in the wars have also been established. These may include the differences in nature of the wars, the nature of the enemy as explained above as well as the differences in the historical and political background of Vietnam and Iraq which had great impact on the offensives (Dumbrell, & Ryan, 2007, 212).
Work cited:
Dumbrell, John. & Ryan, David. Vietnam in Iraq: tactics, lessons, legacies and ghosts. London:
Taylor & Francis. 2007. Print.
Hess, Gary. Presidential decisions for war: Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq. 2nd
Edition. Maryland: JHU Press. 2009. Print.
Record, Jeffrey. & Terrill, Andrew. Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities, and Insights.
Philadelphia: DIANE Publishing. 2004. Print.
