mistakes in iraq war vs mistakes in vietnam war?
544820
The primary mistake is the independant involvement of the media.  Vietnam was the first war that allowed "free reign" of the media, and the media's job is to sell it's copy.  So the real mistake made since Vietnam is allowing a reporter to see a small part of an operation, take it out of context of the whole, and twist it into something horrific to sell papers.
793952
It didn't do us any good in Vietnam, which was an intervention in a civil war and was also a very unpopular war at home. In Iraq, the same two conditions still prevail. To reinstate the draft would only cause an escalation of this brutal and unnecessary aggression by drastically increasing troop levels and fueling anti-American sentiment. A draft is not the answer, ending American involvement in the Iraqi civil war would serve  this country far better than forcing young Americans to shed their blood in a foreign land where they are not wanted.
351862
Why not look at what John Kerry said back in 1971, if that is the source of the question. If you read his speech, you can see remarkable parallels to the current war. He expressed concern about the government's policy then, just as we are doing today. He is questioning the wisdom of our being in Vietnam at all, and why more soldiers need to die for a failed cause. Maybe that needed to be said much sooner.\nHe also acknowledged the testimony of many soldiers who described acts during war which can only be described as war crimes, but Kerry was placing the blame not on the soldiers but on the war itself. Each generation that goes to war discovers again that "war is hell." \nThink what you want, but please read the entire speech and try to put it into context, as well as his other actions after he returned from his service in Vietnam.
890322
I heard it too. The Vietnamese must have taken that as an insult. \nBush avoided going to Vietnam when that war was going on, he has no idea of any lessons learned from Vietnam. How could he, he wasn't there. \nBush wanted instant success, that's why he pushed to invade Iraq on false pretenses. He also knows that his days are numbered once the war in Iraq ends, and war crimes investigations begin.
987850
Killing in Iraq will end about the same time killings in the rest of the world will end - when God wipes evil from the earth.\n\nAs for Vietnam, yes some of us remember the lessons learned there.  That's why we're not leaving until the job is finished this time.  We will gradually pull out as the new government in Iraq gradually learns to stand on it's own figurative two feet.
259856
Clinton was elected twice and he was a draft dodger. But these are different times. I do support the war but I want the Pentagon making the decisions about war, not Capital Hill. I thought we learned that lesson in Vietnam?
335412
Thats a loaded question ;) \n\nI think that we now must stay and finish the reconstruction and occupation of Iraq to avoid a messy withdrawl that will lead to a power vacuum and civil war in the heart of the middle east. Regardless of how you feel about the war before hand, It's important to realize that a US defeat or withdrawl could have dramatic and long lasting negative effects on the US.\n\nThe Vietnam comparison doesn't hold too much water for two reasons, 1) The US withdrawl from South Vietnam was followed by the North overruning the South. This prevented a power struggle or civil war and was, ironically, able to provide some order to a chaotic situation. 2) A large component of the insurgency (An estimated 1/3 ) is now Al Qaeda, I'm not saying that they were there before I'm simply saying they are there now and are working to force an American withdrawl. They even boast about this on propoganda tapes. They are, unlike the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, an organization that is actively at war with the United States (was before the war in Iraq and will be after) and would like nothing better then to send a middle eastern nation into chaos so they can use it as a place to retrain, refurbish and catch their breath after losing a similiar base in Afghanistan that they had before the Taliban lost power.\n\nI personally think we need to establish a table for leaving Iraq based not on chronological deadlines (a poor plan that is inviting disaster the moment the deadline passes and US Troops leave) but instead on tangible results. Like for every 3 Iraqi Army Battalions to reach full operational ability we should withdrawl 1 US Battalion. \n\nThis avoids the dilemna of just saying "lets stay until we're through" which opens the door to a endless occupation but also makes success in Iraq a tangible thing that can be monitored and achieved in due time.
866534
Let me see...Viet Cong blending into villages and disappearing into tunnel systems...Insurgents blending into villages and having underground caches of munitions...Is there any difference?\n\nOur brave soldiers out patrolling crowds where the insurgents look just like the citizens...that sounds awfully familiar.\n\nBush and Rumsfeld have really mucked this one up.  Then, consider the cost of prosecuting this bungled mess.  The deficit is rising and Bush stubbornly insists on maintaining tax cuts.  The next Prez is going to have to raise taxes to pay it off and be branded the one who "lost the war".  \n\nIn case noone remembers, Eisenhower was the first to send troops into Nam.
347402
The Vietcong and Insurgents both used massive guerilla warfare.\n\nI'd say way more IEDs in the iraq war.\n\nthe vietnameese beat us with technology [SAMS, ak-47, etc]\nand knowledge of the land.\n\nThe insurgents are just using household products.
597452
Well Vietnam was stopped by adequate media coverage of it's failures. Perhaps it needs to be made more clear in the public eye that the events taking place, caused by our countries, is not serving to suit the needs of all people involved. I do not believe that the majority of people that do not live in the countries that this war is taking place are fully aware of the severity of the situation. They need to be made aware. Once they understand the extent of damage that is being caused, which is totally unjustified, they will be motivated into seeing that something is done about it.\nAnd if the Americans are fighting for freedom, what do you think the Iraqis, sorry, 'insurgents' are fighting for? The right to be opressed? I don't think so. They are fighting for control of their own country which does not belong to America.\nAnd if it's true that the reason America came in to Iraq was to free the people from Saddam, why are they not free now? Why was Saddam allowed to torture his people for 25 years, actively being supported by the American government a decade or two ago.\nAnd if America is so tough on dictators why did they put Pinochet in place?\nCan anyone answer that?\nI prey the more soldiers see the light and the web of lies they are trapped in.
375427
i dn't know about vietnam and heroshima but iraq because our ass is still over there and we can't take our a whole country. and if iraq was so bad why we beat them in a week why we over there in the frist place they didn't bomb us think about it
235073
I was in Nam in 2001.  But too young for the war.\n\nMaybe you should go back and check it out now.  It might help put the past behind you.
590522
It might be best to hear both sides first before people begin comparing this to the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam.\nIt sounds as though your mind has been made up before hearing from the soldiers who were there. Not saying it isn't possible but combat does bad things to good peoples minds.
674059
The war in Korea. Today 50 years later Korea is still a country divided and the Communist North is the largest threat to nuclear war in the world today.\nThe war in Vietnam. Before the war only North Vietnam was Communist. Today 40 years later all of Vietnam is under Communist rule.\n(For those that say these were not wars but only police actions, tell that to the tens of thousands of troops that died there)\nAlthough you didn't ask the next war the USA will lose is the war in Iraq.
783246
Where the hell was i when we went back to Vietnam?!?!?!\n Trying to compare the Vietnam war to OIF is outrageously stupid. We went to into Vietnam because the french treated the Vietnamese like crap. As soon as we showed up the french jumped ship and left us high and dry then protested us being there. We got out of Vietnam war in 73. 75 is when Saigon fell. big difference, anyways  i digress. OIF happenede ecause saddam had al-queada training camps there. had his son uday purchase chemical weapons from the french and dutch. which he later used on the kurds. to assume that the vietnam war and OIF are the same is just retarded. Sam the communists stoped there take over of asia in vietnam. Research a thing called the domino effect.
657748
Most Americans dont have common sense when it comes to comparing death.  There are many instances like that.  For Example, statistically Marine Corps BootCamp is the absolute safest place for a person to be, yet the media and the people BLOW UP when someone dies there.  STOP COMPARING IRAQ TO NAM! They are nothing alike. Vietnam involved real fighting! Iraq war deaths are mostly IEDs and cowardly tactics like that!
1149483
I'm sure somebody used em to describe Vietnam.   I think, though, that the issue they're talking about is our responsibility to provide stability in government. The removal of Saddam created a very real power vaccume in Iraq. (question of right/wrong in doing so aside) Simply leaving after getting Saddam, would have drawn even more condemnation from the world. The world would  be screamin at us for NOT doing something to help them. As it is, they're screaming at us FOR doing somehthing. Whether or not what we're doing is effective, is another story.