Scott Van Wynsberghe: Will Afghanistan’s war end in the same way as Vietnam’s?

[unhappycamper]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/03/30/scott-van-wynsberghe-will-afghanistans-war-will-end-in-the-same-way-as-vietnams/

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South Vietnamese troops are evacuated by helicopters during an operation against Vietcong troops in Quang Tri on June 30, 1972.

Scott Van Wynsberghe: Will Afghanistan’s war end in the same way as Vietnam’s?
National Post Mar 30, 2012 – 7:30 AM ET | Last Updated: Mar 30, 2012 11:38 AM ET
By Scott Van Wynsberghe

~snip~

The road to 1972 was a tangled, gruesome mess. Vietnam started the 1900s as a French colony, but the Second World War disrupted European empires in the Far East, setting the stage for native revolts. When Vietnamese insurgents rose up in 1945, they did so largely under a communist banner, thereby embedding the struggle in the larger Cold War narrative, and drawing American attention.

Despite substantial U.S. support (moi: the United States paid about 75% of the costs for the French occupation) , France was defeated in 1954. The ensuing peace accord produced two independent Vietnams, not one: a northern entity backed by China and the Soviet Union, and a southern one increasingly aligned with Washington. By the start of the 1960s, the North was actively stoking violence in the South. Escalation led to the commitment of hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops beginning in 1965. But the wild mayhem of Hanoi’s so-called Tet Offensive of 1968 seriously eroded American resolve. And this brings us to the first Afghan parallel.

That NATO forces in Afghanistan have lost much of their will to fight is clear. Canada, for example, currently restricts itself to training the Afghan military. In the United States, 69% of Americans now tell pollsters that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan, up from 53% just four months ago. More than two thirds of Americans think the fighting in Afghanistan is going “somewhat badly” or “very badly.” Four months ago, less than half of surveyed Americans said as much. Almost everyone agrees that the goal must be to teach Afghan politicians and military commanders to stand on their own.

And so it was in South Vietnam. U.S. president Richard Nixon, who assumed office in 1969, championed “Vietnamization,” which meant building up South Vietnam to the point where American troops could leave in good conscience, as victors. According to contemporary accounts in Time and Newsweek magazines, the period from 1969 to early 1972 saw the United States provide South Vietnam with 1,100 aircraft, 46,000 vehicles and almost a million small arms. As well, over 12,000 South Vietnamese officers were sent to the United States for advanced instruction. By the spring of 1972, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) officially had 492,000 personnel, while local militias deployed another 513,000 — more than a million soldiers in total. At that point, the U.S. military presence was down to 100,000, only 7,000 of which were actual ground troops (although U.S. advisers were spread throughout South Vietnam’s forces).




unhappycamper comment: We never learn.

[denverbill]

1. It's the inevitable result. The only question is how much longer we stay and spend.n/t