Is the United States once again in a Vietnam type war?

Question

U.S. says sectarian killings up in Iraq. USA poweless to stop it.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sectarian killings have surged in parts of Baghdad not yet included in a security offensive, the U.S. military said Thursday, while bombings and other insurgent attacks killed five American soldiers and wounded 25 in the capital region. Police reported finding 20 bodies dumped on streets, many of them victims of reprisal killings in the escalating conflict between Shiite and Sunni Arabs. The United States appears to be losing the war in Iraq.

Answer 1

In both cases we invaded a foreign country that had not attacked us, we tried to occupy through military might for years, we acted bewildered that the residents of that country resented and resisted the invasion and occupation, we lost respect of the world, and time will show they both end the same way -- badly.

Answer 2

Yeah, its very similar to vietnam sadly..

During the vietnam war great effort was made to ensure that the bodies of the fallen soldiers made it home for proper burial.

Great effort was also made by protestors to show up at the funeral so that they could protest the war..

The similarity between what happened then and what is happening now is startling. The fact that some of the families of our deceased soldiers are being sued by the ACLU for getting in a fight with protestors at military funerals is outrageous =(

And the kind of people that manage to figure out the phone number of the widows just so that they can add torment to their pain by telling them how glad they are that their husband died..sickening.

I wonder why this never gets in the news. It should be illegal. I'm glad that you're anti-war and all that, because nobody should ever be forced to kill somebody else without a really good reason, but I hope that you do keep your sentiments close and that you don't do the things that I've been hearing about lately.

Respect the rights of the soldiers too. If anybody needs to be blamed for anything, its that lousy coward Bush.

Answer 3

There is no comparison to Viet Nam. There you had a Communist ideology, backed by China. There you had a Communist government in North Viet Nam determined to retake their country.
In Iraq you have a Fundamentalist ideology and it is not the Iraqi people who are instrumental in carrying out the war, it is insurgents encouraged by Iran and Syria who are behind most of the bloodshed.
The leaders of Iran and Syria do not want democracy on their doorstep as it would threaten their very existence. However, while they are willing to fund resistance they are not willing to join the fray.
No two wars are similar and Iraq and Viet Nam are two totally different ball games.

Answer 4

The US has lost the war. It's clearly evident that regime change has failed. At least the South Vietnamese wanted their freedom, but you can't even say that the Iraqis want the Americans there, or our bullsh!t "democracy". At least all our soldiers being blown to bits daily are keeping gas prices below $3.00. That's about all their presence is good for. Bush and the neocons keep saying how the troops are dying to spread freedom and blah, blah, blah, but it's only to keep the oil pumping and to keep the big NY traders from getting the jitters.
Mission Failed! The US hasn't won a war since WWII, because that was the last war anyone believed in. The soldiers and their family are fooling themselves into believing this war isn't a waste. It's hard to believe that you lost a friend, family member, or a limb for nothing... absolutely nothing!

Rome was an empire. America wasn't until Bush.

Answer 5

Tsk Tsk. I really wonder about the Libs here. First off we fought N. Vietnam, a country. We are fighting for an idea that the Libs say they embrace, Freedom! It is just like the time of Rome, the people don't want to work or be responsible but want Gov't to do it all, aka a tyrant. Will we ever learn?

Answer 6

Another empty headed nimrod who comes hear with a question and their own intellectually bankrupt answer. Get off your soapbox, and go hate a different country. You sit here and condemn something that is the right thing to do, but will require patience and fortitude and strength to see to its conclusion. Just because you lack the vision and the guts to see things through, does not mean that our country should abandon its mission of rescuing this country from oblivion. Go bury your head back in the sand and get over yourself. Why ask a question if you already a pre-packaged, shallow, uninsightful answer? It's not like you are interested in how people will answer this anyway. Or are you just a typical know it all who has to give the answer, as you are afraid of posting an open ended question and actually having to consider lots of different perspectives. Another intellectual coward....

Answer 7

yes !! Yes !! and YES !! If your calculate it - there are over 3000 dead in 3 years - most of them US Army. In Vietnam they lost 58,000 soldiers but it took around ten years for that many to die. It will definately be costly like Vietnam in terms of life. Another 7 years and the dead will amount to 10,000 and for what ? The countries of the Middle East are all dictatorships or monarchies. Iraq will not become a democracy just like Vietnam won't because there are just too many people that don't want it.

Answer 8

Iraq is similar to Vietnam only in that Soldiers are faced with the same level of cowardly enemy that will not fight as men.
As in Haditha our troops have to make hard decisions which ride the ethical line.
When faced with an enemy who will use innocent civilians as human shields our men and women must have our support and understanding that they must do what they must to accomplish their mission.
I think of it this way. Those innocent civilians were not put in danger by our troops, it was the terrorists, therefor they are responsible for their deaths though it was a US bullet.

Answer 9

First, we are not at war. We won that three years ago. Viet Nam was a war, with a real opponent, although we didn't dare to call it one. This time, there is no country to fight. We are helping the current government of Iraq battle their own internal insurgents.

If we were at war, we would be making sacrifices at home, guys would be volunteering in droves to serve.

Answer 10

No. It's fundamentally different. They fought in Vietnam to keep a country divided. The fight in Iraq is to keep two distinct groups in a country that they don't want to be in together.