Serbia and Vietnam: A Preliminary Comparison of U.S. Decisions to Use Force
Abstract
NATO's March 24, 1999 attack on Serbia and the events leading up to it prompted many observers to postulate that the disastrous American intervention in the Vietnam War is an analogy. Indeed, one of the principal architects of that disaster, Robert S. McNamara, believes that "Studying the lessons of Vietnam may allow us to end this war earlier; ignoring them may result in catastrophe." The purpose of this essay is to examine the similarities and differences in the circumstances surrounding the U.S.. decisions to use force in Vietnam in 1965 and against Serbia in 1999. Specifically, the author will look at the following items: decision making personalities and processes, policy miscalculations, the relationship between military means and political ends, the regional and international political and strategic environments, public and congressional attitudes, and the state of civil-military relations. This examination of these two decisions to use force leads the author to the following conclusion: the quality of the decision to fight in Vietnam in 1965, notwithstanding that decision's disastrous consequences, was greatly superior to that of the decision to attack Serbia. The American disaster in Vietnam was rooted not in the intervention decision itself, which was a logical response to the character of the threat to perceived U.S. strategic interests in Southeast Asia in the mid-1960s. Rather, it stemmed from a misinterpretation of the character and significance of the war in South Vietnam, an underestimation of the enemy's fighting power and overestimation of our own, and the innate political and military weaknesses of our client regime in Saigon. Indeed, the author believes the U.S. response to the Kosovo crisis will go down as a case study in strategic incompetence. (51 notes)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA425530
Entities
People
- Jeffrey Record
Organizations
- Air War College