Kammerer1

DylanKammerer
Mr.Conrad
Englishp.2
12April2016
IraqWarvs.VietnamWar
ManyjournalistsandpeopleareonceagaincomparingtheconflictinIraqWartothe
VietnamWar,howevertherearetwodifferentreasonswhythesetwowarssparked.Doyou
believethatthesetwowarsaresimilarordotheydiffer?SomepeoplebelievethattheVietnam
WarandIraqWarwillbothgodownassenselesswars,andthatthesetwowarsshouldofnever
haveoccurred.ThousandsifnotmillionsofliveshavebeenlostintheU.S.militaryand
especiallyduringthesetwowars,manyciviliansdontunderstandwhyweareevenatwarin
IraqandwhywewereatwarinVietnam.Inmyopinion,ifyouareinthemilitaryandonceyou
signthatdottedlineandtakethisoath"I,_____,dosolemnlyswear(oraffirm)thatIwill
supportanddefendtheConstitutionoftheUnitedStatesagainstallenemies,foreignand
domesticthatIwillbeartruefaithandallegiancetothesameandthatIwillobeytheordersof
thePresidentoftheUnitedStatesandtheordersoftheofficersappointedoverme,accordingto
regulationsandtheUniformCodeofMilitaryJustice.SohelpmeGod."youmustdowhatyour
higherincommandtellsyouto(i.eTheU.S.President).
WhenmilitarypersonnelareatwartheythinkaboutwhyarewehereorIsthisright
whatwearedoingher?alltheythinkaboutthethebrotherstotheirrightandtotheirleftthat's
whattheyarefightingfor,theywilldowhateverittaketogetthemhomeattheendoftheday.If
theyaretoldtodosomethingtheywillgodoitwithoutanyquestionsorhesitation,theyknow

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theirbrothersandwillhavetheirbackandalsotheywillbetherewiththemandtheywillget
throughwhateverthehavetodotogether.Thatiswhattheyaretrainedtodo,dealwithcrapand
godoit.
TheVietnamWarandIraqWarwerefoughtfortwodifferentreasons,theVietnamwar,
whichmakescomparisonmoot.TheVietnamWarwasfoughttoslowand/orstopthespreadof
communismandkeepSouthVietnamfree.TheIraqWariscurrentlybeingfoughttogetfreedom
istheU.S.fromterrorists.TheIraqWarsparkedwhentheIraqiterroristshijackedacommercial
airlinerandcrashedintoandtookouttheWorldTradeCenterkillingthousandsofinnocent
civilians,thisisalsoknownasthe9/11terroristattack.OnOctober7,2001alittleunderone
monthofthe9/11attackpresidentGeorgeBushdeclareswaronterrorwiththegoaltocapture
orkillOsamaBinLaden,theleaderoftheterroristgroupwhoplannedtheattackof9/11.
Peoplethenmayask,WellwealreadyaccomplishedourgoalwiththeWaronTerror,
whyarewestillthere?TheU.S.militaryessentiallyhadtwogoal/missions,tohavefreedomin
theU.S.fromterroristsandtokilltheleaderof
9/11,afterthatwasaccomplishedthepresident
startedtowithdrawtroopsfromIraq.Shortlyafter
ISISstartedtogrowbiggerandbigger,soIhave
onequestion,IftheU.S.militaryhasnoreasonto
beinIraqfightingthenwhyisitthatwhenthe
militarypersonnelcountgoesdownabout40,000
troops,about100,000troopsdownto60,000
troopsISISbegantospreadthroughouttheU.S.

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andbombingheavypopulatedareas?TherehasbeenacoupleISISattacksintheU.S.now
killingmanyifnotthousandsofpeople,inexampletheSanBernardinoattackthattookplaceon
December2nd2015.Duringthisattack,twoindividualsshot14peopletodeathalsoinjuring21
others.ThisisonlyoneexampleofanISISattack,ISIShasgoneglobalwithabout90attacksin
21countrieskillingabout1,400peopleTheseattacksarejustarehearsalcomparedtothebig
attackthattheysaytheywilldotous.Nowthemilitaryiscurrentlytryingtoregaincontrolof
notonlyISISinIraqbutISISintheU.S.aswell.Thisprovesthatourmilitaryisnotfightinga
uselesswar,ifadministratorsweretopulloutallmilitarypersonnelofIraq,theterroristwould
mostlikelyinvadetheU.S.killingthousandsofinnocentcitizens.
However,tosomepeople,theVietnamWarwasacrime,anattemptbytheUnitedStates
tosuppressaheroicVietnamesenationalliberationmovementandtofreemanyimprisoned
vietnamese.WhyshouldoftheU.S.wentto
changesomethinginanothercountrybecause
itwasnotright?Tomethatseemslikea
wasteoflifetoourmilitaryandinnocent
childrenandwomen.From1954to1975it
hasbeenanestimateof5,773,190(including
civilians)peoplelosttheirlifeintheVietnam
War,227,000thousandofthembeing
civiliansandabout80,000childrenwerekilledduringthebombingofvietnam.Sowhatdidthis
warreallyaccomplish?

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ItisreallyhardtofindanypositivesontheVietnamWarbecauseofthemillionsof
casualtieshowever,somemaysaythatwegottotesttonsofweapons,systemsandtechniquesin
reallifecombatsituationssuchasflamethrowers,grenades,airguidedmissiles,fullyautomatic
assaultrifleandthebiggestonewhattheairbombingandmanymore.Italsobroughtpeople
togethertorallyagainstawartheythoughtwaswrong,muchliketoday,onlymorepeople
ralliedbackthen.Duetothereactionsofthebombsandthefirepowerthattheyhavelearned
fromthewarinVietnamleadtolesscasualtiesinourcurrentwarinbecausetheyknowhow
effectivetheirbombsare.Technologyhasabiginfluenceoncurrentwarfareaswell,duringthe
VietnamWarthemilitarydidnothavethatmuchtechnologytodesignweaponsorhavegood
radiocommunicationlikewedotoday.
Radiocommunicationisoneofthemanykeythingstohaveinatimeofwar,ifyoucan
notcommunicatewitheachotheryouarenotgoingtodowellatall.DuringtheVietnamWar
backpackradiosweremostlyusedbyinfantrysoldiersbecauseoftheirportabilityandsomewhat
reliability.Helicoptersandvehicleshadamuchbetteradvantageoflargerfixedradiosasdid
artillerymen.Ifradiosdidfailallradiomenwereequippedwithtwocolorcoatedgrenades,
purpleandgreen.PurplewasformedevacandGreenwasforemergencypickup.Currentlyin
warifyouareinneedofaccessories,theradiomanhastocallinonhisradioandtellthem,they
willthensendtheappropriateneedssameforpersonnelwhoareinneeofanemergencyextract.
IntheVietnamWar,newtacticsandtechnologicaladvanceswereusedinbattleandhad
awiderangeofsuccess.To
dealwiththesophisticated
NorthVietnameseairdefense

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systems,squadronsofF105Thunderchiefs,equippedwithantiradarmissilesandbombs,lured
intheenemy'santiaircraftsintousingtheirradartotargetthem,oncetheradarwasusedthey
sentasinglethatwerethentracedbacktotheirsourceallowingtheU.S.militarytolocatewhere
exactlythetargetis.ThesetacticscametobeknownasWildWeaselwhichhadbecamean
integralpartofanysuccessfulmodernairwarfare.Inlargescaleaerialbombardment,heavy
bombersliketheB52alongwithfighterplanesliketheF4Phantomcompletelytookcontrolof
theskiesandcausedahugedestructiontothelandandpopulationofNorthVietnamkilling
millions.AbouthavewaythroughthewartotheendofthewartheU.S.AirForcesdropped
about8milliontonsofbombsinVietnam,thatisabouttwotimestheamountofbombsthatwas
droppedduringWorldWarII.
Inclosing,theVietnamWarandthecurrentwarinAfghanistanhavesomesimilarities
however,thedifferencescompletelyoverpowerthesimilarities.Whenitcomesdowntoitthe
majordifference(inmyopinion)isthereasonwhyweareatwarinAfghanistan.Ifeelthatthe
U.S.militaryactuallyhasareasonwhywestartedandalsowhywearecurrentlystillatwarwith
Iraq/ISISasIhavetalkingaboutpreviously.Onesimilarcomparisonis,howlongthesetwowars
where/are.WewillnotreallyknowwheretheIraqWarwilltakeus,itmightleadtoavery
successfulwaroritmayleadustoanotherVietnamsoIfindithardtocomparetwowarswith
onewarstillgoingon,wewillhavetowaituntiltheendoftheIraqWartodoalegitcomparison
ofthesetwowars.Afterreadingthis,wheredoyoustandonthisdebate?IstheVietnamWarthe
sameastheIraqWarorisitvastlydifferent?

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WorkCitedPage

Medved,Michael."MichaelMedvedIraqandVietnam:NineBigDifferencesAndOne
CrucialSimilarity."
Townhall
.N.p.,22Aug.2005.Web.28Apr.2016.
Nessen,Ron."IraqandVietnamDifferencesandSimilarities."
Brookings
.N.p.,21Mar.
2008.Web.28May2016.

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Pillar,PaulR."WhytheIraqWarReallyWasDifferentFromtheVietnamWar."
The
NationalInterest
.N.p.,3July2014.Web.28Apr.2016.