Forty-Five Years of Frustration: America's Enduring Dilemma of Fighting Insurgents with Airpower
Abstract
Analogies are popular among strategists, and the Vietnam War is a favorite target for comparisons. Pundits, policy makers, journalists, and historians have raised the specter of a Vietnam-like quagmire in virtually every conflict that the American military has fought since the fall of Saigon, and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are no exceptions. As America's involvement in Iraq deepened, the cover of the 22 November 2003 issue of National Journal displayed the headline "Iraq as Vietnam"; one year later, the cover headline in Newsweek read, "Crisis in Iraq: The Vietnam Factor"; and one year after that, the cover of Foreign Affairs highlighted its lead article "Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam" by former secretary of defense Melvin Laird. Similarly, the 9 February 2009 cover of Newsweek read, "Obama's Vietnam: How to Salvage Afghanistan." Bob Woodward's recent book Obama's Wars recounts that Vietnam "ghosts" affected Pres. Barack Obama's decisions to increase troop totals in Afghanistan and relates a November 2009 warning that Vice Pres. Joe Biden gave to the president on the need for firm direction in dealing with the Afghan War: without strong guidance, Biden insisted, "we're locked into Vietnam."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA538606
Entities
People
- Mark Clodfelter
Organizations
- Air and Space Power Journal