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"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Friday, April 16, 2004

The Vietnam Analogy

New York Times
By PAUL KRUGMAN
...Iraq isn’t Vietnam. The most important difference is the death toll, which is only a small fraction of the carnage in Indochina. But there are also real parallels, and in some ways Iraq looks worse.

It’s true that the current American force in Iraq is much smaller than the Army we sent to Vietnam. But the U.S. military as a whole, and the Army in particular, is also much smaller than it was in 1968. Measured by the share of our military strength it ties down, Iraq is a Vietnam-size conflict.

And the stress Iraq places on our military is, if anything, worse. In Vietnam, American forces consisted mainly of short-term draftees, who returned to civilian life after their tours of duty. Our Iraq force consists of long-term volunteers, including reservists who never expected to be called up for extended missions overseas. The training of these volunteers, their morale and their willingness to re-enlist will suffer severely if they are called upon to spend years fighting a guerrilla war...
The U.S. Army is smaller...it is also manned by much higher quality personnel, who have much better morale, and who are better educated, better trained, better equipped and better led. The current U.S. Army would handily defeat the larger army of the Vietnam period.

It should also be noted that Reserve and Guard retention has been remarkably high and is much higher in units that deployed to Iraq than those that didn’t.

Krugman is mistaken to criticize the military on Iraq. Then, as now, the army’s only significant weakness is political leadership.

Let me steal a quote from Senator Fred Thompson:
Weakness is when America’s leaders compare Iraq to Vietnam, announcing to the world a faltering resolve to see our mission through. To our allies in the Middle East and beyond, these predictions of defeat send a clear and chilling message to hedge their bets, because the United States cannot be counted on. And to our enemies, they send an equally clear message: You can win.

Let there be no doubt: Every time there is a call to abandon Iraq to the United Nations or unnamed “international allies,” our enemies know this is a call to cut and run. And they are heartened.
Comparing Iraq to Vietnam is self-defeating. It certainly doesn't help Kerry's chances.

ORIGINAL ITEM: http://www.nytimes.com/
Posted by: Zayphar / 4/16/2004 02:05:00 PM
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