TTTC Final Assessment

As one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world, the United States of America is no stranger of getting involved in foreign affairs. While getting involved with other countries we have gotten ourselves into several wars where we as a country have been affected greatly. Two wars that people often compare are the Vietnam War along with the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of these wars have many similarities in the way they started and from the looks of it they might end in the same way.
To many people around the world seeing the difference between the Vietnam War and our current war in the Middle East is easy. One of the most obvious similarities is that both countries’ leaders were communists and America as a whole is pretty much anti-communist. The Vietnam War was started when President Eisenhower decided to send troops to “help” Vietnam after France pulled out. The U.S. government wanted to stop Communists from taking over countries like Vietnam and they thought that the best possible way was to send troops in. The current war in the Middle East started because our President at the time George W. Bush believed that Iraq had nuclear weapons and he wanted to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. He also wanted to “free” the people from the wrath of Saddam Hussein. Many people might argue that the war was started because of the American need for oil from the Middle East. At the start of both of these wars a lot of controversy surrounded the American government wondering if they were doing what was in the best interest for the country. In my opinion, it seems as if both of these wars could have been avoided if the government really wanted to. Another major similarity is the role that the media played in both wars. In both the Vietnam War and the current War, we depend highly on the media to fill us in on what is going on. This is mostly due to the lack of government communication with the people on the matter. When looking at the people of the time in both wars, it seems as though most Americans were against the idea of the war. Another similarity we see is the expanded use of what are known as “illegal weapons” in both wars. In Vietnam the U.S. dropped several types of bombs such as the napalm and clusters bombs on the people of Vietnam, similar tactics were being used in the war in the Middle East. One major thing that we find in common is that both wars sought out to establish a democracy in the nations being invaded. In both wars the U.S. government thought that there influence might help the countries involved in the war back on their feet. The U.S. seemed to be on a mission in both of these wars, in the Vietnam War we wanted to prevent the spread of communism and the “domino effect” while in the current war it seems like we are on an operation of fighting terrorism. Many people argue that these claims have yet to be proven.
While many people can see that both of these wars are similar others may argue that they have two different directions. One of the major differences I observed in both wars is where the blame and hatred is put towards. During the time of the Vietnam War a lot of criticism and hatred was shown towards the soldiers who served in the war rather than the government that started it. In the current war in the Middle East our soldiers are shown more support and people point the blame to where it’s due, the government. The Vietnam War was fought against sovereign countries that were trying to spread communism while the war on terror is being fought against different groups and individuals in the country. If you look at both wars as a whole it seems like they have two totally opposite fighting tactics. In the Vietnam War we saw a lot of more straight up fighting but the Iraqi war is surrounded by suicide bombings and other underhanded moves. Today it seems like the media is hiding a lot more of what we are doing rather than in Vietnam where almost everything was televised. Even though both of these wars have several differences they both might end up with the same ending.
The Vietnam War was the first war that the U.S. ever lost and it taught us a lot of valuable lessons. One of the most significant lessons it taught us was not to fight a war that we’re not sure we can win and that applies to the current war today. If we really think about it the U.S. might lose this war and face another Vietnam-like catastrophe. In order to prevent history possibly repeating itself there are many things that we have to do. One of the first things we have to do is to realize why we went to war in the first place. We went to War with Iraq to free them from their “dictator”, but, now that he is gone we should have already pulled out. Many people think that this war is being prolonged for no reason. I think that our government should slowly start to pull out troops and try to minimize more havoc occurring in Iraq. It’s simpler to start a war then to end it and I believe that this one will be hard to end. Another thing is that we as a country have to realize that we made a mistake and continue to support our soldiers no matter what. The soldiers returning from Vietnam felt out of place and I think that now we have learned that it’s important for us to help our soldiers get back to school and work. I think that in order for us to prevent another Vietnam we have to try to make some amends in Iraq and help to reestablish a country that we basically helped to destroy. The people of Vietnam are still dealing with the after-effects of the war and we don’t want to put another third-world country through that. It also seems that if we have any chances of winning this war it might take years and that’s just a waste of money and young Americans. I think that the most important thing for us to remember is that we can’t just run into other countries and try to spread our customs.
Overall, both of these wars seemed never-ending at the time of their start. While it seems like the current war in Iraq might end like Vietnam, we still have some hope. One thing that we have to do as a country is to realize our mistakes and try to fix them as a whole. We also have to keep ourselves from involving with foreign affairs that don’t have anything to do with us. If we continue to try to help other countries then how will they learn to help themselves.