“Troops Out Now” is an easy slogan, but actually to extricate the US military from Iraq and George Bush’s asinine and foully fucked-up war is not that easy in the context of any kind of geopolitical reality. (Not to mention what would appear to be US enthrallment to the Saudi Royal Family.) To get out of Vietnam, once Nixon’s place in history was history, was comparatively easy. Most of us remember, or have at least seen the films, of the choppers taking off from the US Embassy roof in Saigon. Iraq will be a lot more complex. I don’t always agree with John Gray of the Guardian but in this instance, he has a point…
“Forget all the talk about Iraq being as bad as Vietnam. Today's conflict is far worse. The US was able to walk away from Vietnam with relative impunity because Vietnam was essentially a peripheral country. Iraq, by contrast, is a key factor in global oil supplies, so an American withdrawal would be a devastating blow to US power. In Vietnam, US withdrawal was feasible because there was an effective government in the north ready to take over in the south. Nothing like that exists in Iraq where almost a third of the population, according to Oxfam is in need of emergency relief. And whereas the feared domino effect never materialized in Southeast Asia after the US left Vietnam, the consequences of the Iraqi debacle are already apparent. Surrounding states such as Iran and Turkey are being irresistibly drawn into the conflict, threatening to unleash regional war.”
“Forget all the talk about Iraq being as bad as Vietnam. Today's conflict is far worse. The US was able to walk away from Vietnam with relative impunity because Vietnam was essentially a peripheral country. Iraq, by contrast, is a key factor in global oil supplies, so an American withdrawal would be a devastating blow to US power. In Vietnam, US withdrawal was feasible because there was an effective government in the north ready to take over in the south. Nothing like that exists in Iraq where almost a third of the population, according to Oxfam is in need of emergency relief. And whereas the feared domino effect never materialized in Southeast Asia after the US left Vietnam, the consequences of the Iraqi debacle are already apparent. Surrounding states such as Iran and Turkey are being irresistibly drawn into the conflict, threatening to unleash regional war.”
Someone should remind John Gray that the US pullout from Vietnam gave Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge a free pass to stage a holocaust that was nasty even by 20th century standards.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should remind anonymous that the US got out of Vietnam because it didn't much choice.
ReplyDeleteWe went in for the oil and will stay for the oil. That's the difference between this and Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteThe Iraq war was started without an exit strategy because exit was never intended. The US will never leave Iraq, so don't hold your breath anyone.
We sowed the seeds of the Khmir Rouge with our illegal bombings of Cambodia. As Chomsky has demonstrated, the US achieved its goal in Vietnam, which was to stop an independent nationalist state from setting an example to others. We didn't completely destroy all life in the country, which I suppose would be a requirement for people to think we "won."
ReplyDeleteIraq is VERY different. There's only about 20 years of that oil left folks (2/3 of the known reserves in the world are in Iraq and S.A.), but we would have the same policies even if we used none of it. "We" forced Europe and Japan to convert from coal to oil after WWII, because the U.S. owns the region. So our soldiers are being ground up to keep the G-8 going as it is . . . Our only hope is what it has been since WWI--to follow the UN, which is the last thing we will do . . .
You know, Truman screwed Stalin in Berlin. The USSR was no threat to the US at that time . . .
indeed, the only parallel with vietnam is perhaps in general strategy - it's a war to be prolonged not resolved.
ReplyDeletemuch more when oil is on the game. the blood that runs through our metaphoric veins. the fuel.
that means the bloodsuckers will hang around for a looong fucking while. shit, even blair which isn't even uk's prime-minister anymore still lingers on the area. now as some kind of embassador.
yeah right.
the biggest fucking irony of the whole story is that no one is innocent. even me and you, and every naturally anti-war folk. Everyone that drives a car, uses electricity - we all support this war, each day. each hour.
they are only guaranteeing our life-style as westerners. zhi good germans.
or as mr Hicks once said: "how does it feel to find out that WE are the evil empire??"
deep from the belly of the beast,
Mark Haspam
It's also a battle of ideology and the belief that western capitalist ways are best. ASBOS and tagging versus the chopping off of hands. Our freedoms are being reduced in the name of security, so we can live in a free society. It's all shit, look how upset everyone gets when the EU try and impose laws on Britain. Fuckin' hypocites the lot of 'em.
ReplyDeleteThe chopping off of hands shit is most popular with our allies, the House of Saud. Please do not try to start up the (thoroughly discredited) clash o' civilizations horseshit.
ReplyDelete