What is the Major difference between Vietnam and Iraq wars?

Question

Hint: draft...

Answer 1

The draft is the biggest difference, and the reason so few people chose to actively protest the Iraq "war". Everyone in the military chose the fight they are in.

That makes this much more like the Crimean War than any other war in history.

Answer 2

There are virtually no similarities between the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The one key point of difference is the effectiveness of our soldiers. Today's military has proven much more effective in Iraq than in Vietnam and this is not because the Terrorest are cowards. It is because we have effectively prevented the war from developing into the Stage III level of combat (Major unit) that happened in Vietnam. The Iraq war has remained at a Stage I insurgency because of effective tactics.
If sufficient forces are provided to the commanders on the ground the conflict will be brought to a successful conclusion. Which brings one more point of difference between Vietnam and Iraq. In Vietnam we deployed 3 times the number of troops we have ever deployed in Iraq.

Answer 3

Vietnam was about stopping the spread of Communism. Iraq is about stopping the spread of Terrorism. The tactics are similar, at least as far as combating an invisible enemy. Vietnam was mainly fought in the countryside while Iraq is mainly urban warfare. The main similarity (other than the tactics of the enemy) is in the fact that progress is difficult to see since the enemy is invisible and the people that do the reporting aren't interested in successes. Bad news sells...war news or otherwise. This happened during Vietnam and is happening now concerning Iraq.

edit--Yes, in Vietnam, there were a bazillion draftees running around. That's why there were more discipline problems during Vietnam than there are now.

Answer 4

Vietnam: more American casualties. More green foot soldiers wounded in battle.
More idealism involved, the excuse planted in the capitalist's mind was fear of communism; a basic ideological difference.
.
Iraq: less casualties (so far) less mines and napalm burns or agent orange damage.
Less idealism under the fear of terrorism; the excuse planted in the public mind was the threat of local attacks.

The more differences one uncovers, the more similarities surface; military complex gains, big corporation profit. Mass control and political power status.
All that is left is the sand in the soldiers ears and the lifelong health problems brought on by ever more dangerous weapons sold and used by the U.S.

Answer 5

Yep, draft.
Now for similarities: 1. Never declared a war by congress. 2. Brought there under manufactured lies(for Vietnam, google Gulf of Tonkin incident). 3. Numerous casualities 3K+ for us, near 1mil for them. 4. Both being fought under terms created by our own government. 5. Looks like the only way out will be the power of the people, or a president who is a man of the people.

Ron Paul '08

Answer 6

Vietnam didn't last that long and it didn't cause the country to go damn near bankrupt. Plus most were against Vietnam, with Iraq, we still have folks straddling the fence to see how it will turn out and determine what side they want to jump on. Media coverage wasn't so 'all in your face'.

Answer 7

in Vietnam we were trying to keep the south vietnamese from turning commie, which is what they wanted. in iraq, the vast majority of shiites and kurds, and a small portion of sunni arabs, support the gov't and want democracy, so well over 80% of iraqis would prefer a democracy, which is far different than the amount of vietnamese that support democracy. of course hundreds of thousands of vietnamese never returned from "reeducation camps" that the commies set up, they were at war numerous times after the US left, their economy had been in shambles for decades, and their human rights record is pathetic to say the least. clearly they made the right decision. after decades of isolation they finally came around to globalization and crave US investment to supply jobs to them. Interesting that countries like china and vietnam are opening up to capitalism and globalization about 40 years after we first tried to get them to fall for the idea. it's just a shame that millions had to die before they realized their stupidity.

Answer 8

Well, the major difference is location. Vietnam is in South East Asia, whereas, Iraq is in South WEST Asia. Check out a globe or map--

Answer 9

In Vietnam they drafted babyboomers, and babyboomer protestors fought to lose the war.

In Iran, the younger generation volunteered to fight, while babyboomer protestors fight to lose the war.

I mean, there are other differences: Jungle vs Desert, South Asia vs Middle East, Islamism not Communism, etc...

Answer 10

We support our troops, but not the war, and yes, we don't support a draft any more, TG!
Other than that, I see alot more similarities than differences. How did the US involvement help Viet Nam? And how did the US withdrawal help Viet Nam AND the US? We need to learn from history.