Political Science

The current conflicts and the Vietnam (Second IndoChina) War share many important aspects and media comparison of the two historical occurences is not only logical, but also unavoidable and well-founded.

A prominent aspect which characterized both conflicts was justification for the wars. While critics to the US-inspired conflicts have argued that the US could have avoided these conflicts, the US spent time and effort trying to convince Americans, and the world, that they would remain under the threat of the enemies unless the US intervened militarily (Pike, 1970). In Vietnam, the US attacked North Vietnamese Communists under the guise of forestalling the fall of Saigon, then under attack from North Korea. To justify the current conflicts, the US has again made attempts to convince the world that global security was threatened by the presence of terrorists and unless her troops attacked the terrorist bases, the world would remain unsafe. It is telling that manipulated information and outright falsehoods, and propaganda were used to persuade Americans, and the world, to support the good forces (Carter, 2008 Milne, 2008 Stahl, 2009)

Comparisons between the Vietnam war and the ongoing conflicts can also be informed on the fact the invaders (the US with support from friendly nations) were in such a haste to launch their military offensives that they did not have enough time to assess their weaknesses and the strength of their seemingly inferior enemies. In Vietnam as in the ongoing conflicts, the invaders prepared for conventional war and trusted their superior firepower to earn them victory against the enemies. Their enemies however preferred non-conventional combat tactics, surprising the militarily superior invaders. The Communist Vietnamese, like the Islamic combatants in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan avoid direct confrontations with the occupying forces, choosing to hit occasionally and unpredictably, and occasioning heavy damage on the occupying forces.