Has there ever been a situation very similar to the current one with the U.S. occupation of Iraq in the past?

Question

As I thought of this I thought of the Spanish American war at the turn on the last century ( about 1 month long in 1898 , US took control on Spanish Islands [except Cuba] in the Caribbean & Philippines)

How does the current situation in Iraq compare or does it?

Are there other instances that I should look into that compare to the current situatuon?

Aside from the anti-war politica protest of Vietnam war how does it compare to the current war / occupation of Iraq?

Again are there other instances that I am not thinking of that are very similar to the current situation of the U.S.A. in Iraq?

Answer 1

about 1 month long in 1898 , US took control on Spanish Islands [except Cuba] in the Caribbean & Philippines)

This is untrue: the US took complete control of Cuba, and did not leave until 1902. They forced the Cubans to adopt the Platt Amendment, allowing if the US govt determined that US citizens or their property were endangered.

The rebellion in the Philippines lasted from 1900 or so until the 1930's.

What is similar with Vietnam and the Spanish -American War is that the war was not necessary to defend the US, and it was claimed that we had to stay because the rest of the world would not respect us.

Answer 2

The Philipine occupation and reorganization was much more difficult and bloody. One parallel of note is that the army had retired its 45 pistols and gone to a 38 (actually a .357 caliber bullet) and had to go back to the 45 Colt. The army went to a 9mm (.355 bullet) some years back, and now pretty well everybody wants to go back to the 45 ACP.
There are parallels with Vietnam, but generally not those that people mean when they point it out. The more I read on these posts the more sure I am that few people over age 50 and almost nobody younger has a clue about the history of the war in Vietnam, and how close even the meddlesome and irrational President Johnson came to winning that war.
Small-scale parallels can also be found on the island of Hispanola in the 1920's and 30's, and Nicaragua. You might want to read some USMC history, especially biographical sketches of Smedley Butler and Chesty Puller.

Answer 3

Will Iran Be Next?

By Mark Gaffne

Information Clearing House
10 May, 2003

Those who have hoped that a U.S. military victory in Iraq would somehow bring about a more peaceful world are in for a rude awakening. The final resolution of this war and the U.S. occupation of Iraq will likely not be the end, rather, only the prelude to a succession of future crises: in Kashmir, Syria, North Korea, and Iran. This article will focus primarily on the latter case.

In the coming months the United States and its ally Israel will either accede to the existence of an Iranian nuclear power program, or take steps to prevent it. At the eye of the storm is Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, currently under construction. The reactor is scheduled for completion later this year. Its nuclear fuel rods will then be delivered. By June 2004 it should be fully operational. The controversial project has been in the works for more than a quarter century. As it nears completion, tensions between Iran and the U.S./Israel are sure to rise. Iran is a signatory of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which affirms the right of states in good standing to develop nuclear power for peaceful use. Although there is no evidence Iran has yet violated the NPT, the U.S. and Israel believe that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. This is the crux of the problem. And two recently discovered Iranian nuclear sites, at Arak and at Natanz, have only heightened suspicions

Answer 4

A very similar situation occured during the Roman conquest of Dacia. After beating the Dacian king, the Romans were faced with continuous uprisings and guerilla warfare.
End result? It took them about 10 years, by the end of which there were no Dacians left.
The country today is known as Roumania. It was settled by Roman army veterans- one of the reasons the Roumanian language is from the Latin group- and surrounded by Slavic people.

Iraq compared to Vietnam? It can be compared, but the only similarity I can see is the presence of "neutral" safe havens (in Vietnam- Cambodia, Laos) (in Iraq- Syria, Iran) where the insugents get trained and armed and financed.

There is also the similarity that some politicians and media moghuls are so eager to declare a US defeat that it makes me wonder if they are not, by any chance, sitting in the pocket of some mullah

Answer 5

Republic of Haiti 1915-1934

Throughout the nineteenth century, Haiti was ruled by a series of presidents, most of whom remained in office only briefly. Meanwhile, the country's economy was gradually dominated by foreigners, particularly from Germany. Concerned about German influence, and disturbed by the hanging of President Guillaume Sam by an enraged crowd, the United States invaded and occupied Haiti in 1915. The United States imposed a constitution (written by future U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt) and applied an old system of compulsory corvée labor to everyone. Previously this system had been applied only to members of the poor, black majority. The occupation had many long-lasting effects on the country. United States forces built schools, roads and hospitals, and launched a campaign that eradicated yellow fever from the island. As their occupation resulted in the centralization of government and industry from the provinces to the capital, destroying the socio-economic fabric of the country and launching an exodus from the countryside, some nationalist rebels, called the Cacos, waged a strong guerilla warfare, headed by Charlemagne Péralte and later Dominique Batraville. As a consequence, the U.S.-controlled government created a National Guard which in future decades would become the Armée d'Haiti and be said to commit many atrocities against its own people. The occupation was ended in 1934.

Answer 6

Prior to the first world war Iraq was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).At this time Iraq was three separate states. One was controlled by the Kurds,another by the minority Sunnis and the other by the Shiites. At the end of the first world war Britain became the ruling power in Iraq.
Winston Churchill was the colonial secetary (1921-1922). In 1921 Churchill formed the three states into what we now know as Iraq. Britain placed a minority Sunni king on the thrown to rule Iraq.
Churchill created great controversy over his policies in Iraq. It was estimated that it would take 25,000 British troops and 80,000 Indian troops to control the country.
Churchill argued that if Britain relied on air power , you could cut these numbers to 4,000 British troops and 10,000 Indian troops.
The government was convinced by this argument and agreed to send the newly formed Royal Air Force (RAF) to Iraq.
An uprising of more than 100,000 armed tribesmen took place in the early 1920's.Over the next few months the RAF dropped over 97 tons of bombs killing approximately 9,000 Iraqis. This failed to end the resistance and Kurdish and Arab resistance continued to pose a threat to British rule.
Churchill suggested that chemical weapons should be used against rebel Arabs as an experiment."He added" i am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes to spread a lively terror in Iraq.

Answer 7

Frankly that's not very similar in spite of what they say. the U. S. went in and expeditiously bumped off a brutal dictator; did not take position in Vietnam. Terrorists from overseas international locations began going into Iraq, both to assist the former dictator's partisans to regain power, or to push a thorough agenda not before very huge-spread in Iraq; did not take position in Vietnam, although they did receive elements. The Iraqi human beings practice a democratic authorities, had elections, and massive numbers of human beings voted in spite of the threats of terrorists. No such element in Vietnam.

Answer 8

Vietnam comes immediately to mind. Unfortunately past lessons were not learned.

Answer 9

All wars are the same........the outcome is the same. People die, countries are torn apart and no one really wins. I hate war, but I support our troops and I'd rather them be fighting over there, than the taliban fighting us over here.