The Simplest of History Lessons

Posted on 20 November 2009

And so as the war digs-in in Afghanistan (and Iraq, not to mention Pakistan) it should be no surprise that more and more articles are appearing that revisit our adventure in Vietnam, discussing how there are lessons to be learned so that now we might win a similar war. Some articles (one by John Kerry) claims that Vietnam was unwinnable (i.e., so too, Afghanistan), many others (clearly helping Obama’s position) argue the opposite.

But is that really the point of Vietnam at all – like it was a football game to win to lose? Isn’t the final lesson of Vietnam something altogether different (given how that country never went over to Communist China’s side, never took over the rest of Asia, never did any of the things we were told to fear it would)? Isn’t the real lesson of Vietnam that it just settled back into peace and is now a powerful friend of the US? Isn’t that the real point of Vietnam?

If we look at what happened after we left, it is clear that the lesson of Vietnam is that there was absolutely no reason for being there at all. Ever. All those lives, all those resources, all those opportunities lost were absolutely meaningless!

That being said, the article below, “The War We Can’t Win,” by (of all people) Andre Bacevich, a right wing former US general re the military and political realities of Afghanistan ought to be read by us all (most importantly our poor – increasingly lost – president.)