A Tale of Two Quagmires: Iraq, Vietnam, and the Hard Lessons of WarIs Iraq becoming another Vietnam? Author Kenneth Campbell received a Purple Heart after serving 13 months in Vietnam. He then spent years campaigning to get the US out of the war. Here, Campbell lays out the political similarities of both wars. He traces the chief lessons of Vietnam, which helped America successfully avoid quagmires for thirty years, and explains how neoconservatives within the Bush administration cynically used the tragedy of 9/11 to override the "Vietnam syndrome" and drag America into a new quagmire in Iraq. In view of where the U.S. finds itself today -- unable to stay but unable to leave -- Campbell recommends that America re-dedicate itself to the essential lessons of Vietnam: the danger of imperial arrogance, the limits of military force, the importance of international and constitutional law, and the power of morality. |
Contents
The Great Debate | 1 |
Personal Encounter with a Quagmire | 11 |
The Vietnam Quagmire | 39 |
Copyright | |
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A Tale of Two Quagmires: Iraq, Vietnam, and the Hard Lessons of War Kenneth J. Campbell No preview available - 2007 |
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Abu Ghraib accessed August accessed September al-Qaeda ambush American antiwar artillery ARVN Bacevich bloody body count booby traps Bravo Company Bush administration Campbell civilians Colin Powell combat company commander Con Thien Congress Crimes deception democratic detainees Dick Cheney enemy fighting fire Foreign Affairs Genocide Hersh Ibid imperial insurgency intelligence Iraq and Vietnam Iraq quagmire Iraq War Iraqi John Joint Chiefs killed lessons of Vietnam Marine military force military leaders moral National Security neocons numbers Odom Pentagon platoon political and military President Press public opinion public support quagmire Richard Robert Rumsfeld Saigon School Secretary of Defense strategic terrorism Tet Offensive tion torture U.S. Army U.S. casualties U.S. forces U.S. government U.S. leaders U.S. military U.S. political U.S. public U.S. troops United University Viet Minh Vietnam quagmire Vietnam Veterans Vietnam War Vietnamese war in Iraq wars Washington Wayne Weinberger White House Winter Soldier Investigation withdrawal