They compare Iraq to WWII, we compare it to Vietnam

[LittleClarkie]

To be fair, if I'm going to say that the WWII references annoy me, then one would think that the Vietnam references would too.

On a gut level, I can see the Nam connection much more, and the WWII comparisons seem like a pathetic chickenhawk wet dream. Like they're playing soldier.

But it occurs to me that Iraq is neither Europe nor Vietnam. Some would argue that there is no real threat from terrorism just as folks argued against the Domino Theory and the threat of Communism, saying it was no reason to go to war.

While I don't think Iraq even had much to do WITH terrorism per se, I think that international crime, of which terrorism is a part, is a problem that will not be solved by us merely leaving all the places that the terrorists say they don't want us.

Iraq was NOT a terrorism problem before. It is now, because of us. Will it stop if we leave. We won't know until we leave. What will happen to those who were on our side? Who are the insurgents? I wish we could get more actual news out of Iraq so I could answer some of those questions.

Okay I'm rambling, but do you kinda see what I mean? Iraq is not WWII. Iraq is not Vietnam. Iraq is Iraq, and needs to be thought about in terms of itself, not some other war.

It seems like an oversimplifcation to put either a WWII mask or a Vietnam mask on the thing.

Discuss.

[dajoki]

1. what cheney said to blitzer

when asked about the insurgency being in it's last throes: (paraphrasing) it always gets worse before it gets better, the toughest battles of WWII were fought near the end. the battle of the bulge in europe and okinawa in the pacific.(end paraphrase) what he didn't say was we had to nuke japan to end the war, and of course that is out of the question now.:wtf:

[indepat]

2. The US went to war after being attacked by Japan and having war declared

on it by Germany who had precipitated WWII by its war of aggression, invasion, and occupation of Poland. Yes, Iraq presents striking parallels/comparisons to WWII IMHO.

[Yupster]

3. Of course no war is like another, but

to me there are more Vietnam similarities than WWII.

The troubling part is that after we left Vietnam, things did not go well.

Especially in Cambodia after we left, our allied government was overwhelmed and the ones who took over went on a killing rampage now called the Killing Fields.

Vietnam was not quite as bad, but still pretty awful as our allied government there also fell leading to people getting sent to reeducation camps for years and others fleeing the country.

A quote from WWII that went around the German army toward the end of the war was "Enjoy the war because the peace will be horrible."

I hope if/when we do leave, we do not suffer another Vietnam/Cambodia type peace.