The story continues

I am a 65 year old retired Navy Supply Corps Captain and retired businessman from Fairfax Station, Virginia.  I served in the US Navy from March 1963 until September of 1990, over 27 years.  This posting continues the discussion of how the Bush AdministrationGÇÖs failure to heed the lessons of Viet Nam has led us to the point where we must repudiate its leadership and hold Republican incumbents accountable at the polls.  Please read on for this 27 year veteranGÇÖs analysis.
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The parallels between Viet Nam and the current disaster in Iraq are astounding despite the Bush AdministrationGÇÖs apologists claims to the contrary:

GÇó War waged on false premises
GÇó Flawed strategy due to lack of knowledge and appreciation the culture
GÇó Lack of shared sacrifice on the part of the wealthy and elites
GÇó Compliant GÇ£Rubber StampGÇ¥ Congress
GÇó Erosion of civil liberties
GÇó Failing to provide returning veterans proper care and support
GÇó GÇ£Hollowing OutGÇ¥ of the Armed Forces
GÇó No accountability for failure

False Premises GÇô The Viet Nam War was started in an atmosphere of hysteria over the threat of Monolithic International Communism and its attendant GÇ£domino theoryGÇ¥.  Both ideas were false but were flogged to promote fear in the population.  They were used as a bludgeon to beat down any dissent of which there was very little.  In this environment it was very easy for the Administration to manufacture a cause belli, the Tonkin Gulf incident, to extract a blank check from a compliant Congress and the rest, over 56,000 dead and defeat, is history.

In like manner the Bush Administration exploited the very real tragedy of 9/11 to stoke fear in the population with such extravagant claims as terrorism threatening our very survival which it clearly did not.  With fear spread throughout the land it was a short step to exaggerating and downright lying about the supposed Iraqi threat and the totally bogus tie between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist.  By some accounts if we had the same level of field medicine today as during Vietnam our death toll would exceed 15,000 already.

Flawed Strategy GÇô In Viet Nam we never understood the complex village culture that permeated the countryside and the relationships among the Viet Cong and the villagers.  This lack of understanding lead to widespread GÇ£burning the village to save itGÇ¥ with the resulting strengthening of the bonds between the population and the Viet Cong.

Similarly, in Iraq we did not fully appreciate the tribal loyalties that abound in the society nor did we understand the role of Islam and the mosque.  Further we did not fully appreciate that dropping bombs on peoplesGÇÖ homes with the inevitable GÇ£collateral damageGÇ¥ (dead civilians) would not endear us to a population that was already predisposed to support the local militias and immans of their various sects and tribes.

Lack of Shared Sacrifice GÇô In the beginning the Viet Nam War was fought with draftees conscripted within a draft system generously ladled with exemptions of all kinds, but especially student exemptions.  Also, in those days a much smaller portion of the population went to college.  So college became the refuge of choice for the children of the wealthy and the elites.  For those not in colleges the reserves and National Guard also became an attractive refuge.  In the early days of the War and throughout LBJGÇÖs build up to 500,000 troops the sons of the wealthy and the elites were largely unaffected.  There was also very little, if any, protest.  When the injustice of this situation finally became unbearable the draft lottery system was instituted and the draft became a reality for everyone including the sons of the wealthy and the elites.  In short order the campuses erupted, the war ended with the fig leaf of GÇ£VietnamizationGÇ¥ and the all volunteer force was implemented.  On the fiscal side of the equation, the costs of the war were largely financed by debt in order to provide both GÇ£guns and butterGÇ¥ and keep the tax payers in the dark about the true cost of the war.  The resulting inflation and stagnation of the economy took years to fix.

In the Iraq War the sons and daughters of the wealthy and the elites are protected by the all volunteer force.  There is no obligation to serve.  After the experience of the Viet Nam War, I never encouraged my children to serve because I did not want their lives wasted in a misadventure such as Iraq.  Financially, the cynicism of the current administration is worse than during Viet Nam.  At least during Viet Nam much of the GÇ£butterGÇ¥ was devoted to lifting up the poor.  This time around the GÇ£butterGÇ¥ has exclusively gone to the wealthy and the elites that have avoided service.  I keep asking my senators and representative (Republicans all), GÇ£Is it moral to cut taxes for the rich in wartime while passing the bill to future generations?GÇ¥  Of course, they do not answer.

Next the rest of the story.

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