Lessons Learned From the 60s: the Vietnam and Afghanistan Wars
In the late 1960s, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War grew to an unprecedented scale. US pilots had dropped 7 million tons of bombs by the end of the war, doubling the number of bombs dropped in Europe and Asia during WWII (Steven, 2006). Resulting political and social turmoil changed the way people viewed foreign affairs and the federal government. But by the early 2000s, America was again involved in foreign conflict: the Afghanistan War. Analyzing the similarities between the Afghanistan and Vietnam Wars reveals insightful lessons regarding war and society; both periods in American history are characterized by interventionist foreign policy and public disapproval of the government.
Both the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars were fought in similar contexts; both were shaped by the US government’s desire to spread freedom and install democracies in countries torn by violence. In the 1960s, political leaders justified the war in Vietnam with the Domino Theory: if South Vietnam fell to the communist North, it was believed that communism would spread throughout the region. The US-backed South Vietnamese government fell to communism by 1975 (“Vietnam Profile - Timeline,” 2016), and foreign intervention was proven to be an unsuccessful means of spreading US ideology abroad. But by 2001, the US was again directly involved in foreign conflict. In response to the 9/11 attacks, the US launched its War on Terrorism. US foreign policy was firmly grounded in George W. Bush’s Freedom Agenda, which aimed to create stable democracies in the Middle East (Yerkes, 2006). Like the US’s policy of containment in Vietnam, Bush’s Freedom Agenda failed to solidify a US agenda in foreign territory.
Throughout the 1960s, anti-war sentiment prevailed in American society. During the Vietnam war, public opposition for the war manifested in protests and demonstrations. Beginning as a small movement on college campuses, the antiwar sentiment grew to become a widespread peace movement (“Vietnam War Protests,” 2010). Large scale demonstrations–including a march on the Pentagon with over 100,000 protesters (“Vietnamization,” 2010)–were indicative of the public’s growing dissent for the war. Similarly, when the US increased its involvement in the Middle East, massive organized demonstrations signaled the public’s growing frustration with US foreign policy (Tharoor, 2013). In both instances, public opinion was largely ignored by the government; de-escalation in Vietnam did not begin until Nixon’s 1969 Vietnamization plan (“Vietnamization,” 2010), and the US still maintains military presence in Afghanistan (Jaffe, 2016).
As public opinion turned against both the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, the release of classified government documents further augmented the public’s distrust for the government. In 1971 military analyst Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, government files that exposed the truth behind US involvement in Vietnam (“Pentagon Papers,” 2011). With public support for the war already dwindling, the Pentagon Papers dramatically reduced the public’s trust in the federal government. Similarly, WikiLeaks, an international organization of whistleblowers and journalists, released the Afghan War Diary in 2010 (PBS, 1010). The War Diary, composed of memos and reports by soldiers and intelligence officers, revealed that military gains in Afghanistan were extremely limited despite $300 billion in spending (PBS, 1010). In an interview with Christian Science Monitor, Ellsberg explained the similarities between the Pentagon Papers and the Afghan War Diary: “[The documents] look very familiar to me. Different places and names, but they are describing a war that is as thoroughly stalemated as was the case 40 years ago and more in Vietnam” (PBS, 1010).
Often referred to as “another Vietnam,” the Afghanistan War parallels the Vietnam war in several ways. Both wars were justified by ideological motives, both wars incited public protests, and both wars divulged hidden foreign policy agendas. Although there are differences between the wars, the overlaps illustrate the catastrophic results of US interventionism.
Works Cited
Jaffe, G., & Ryan, M. (2016, January 16). The U.S. was supposed to leave Afghanistan by 2017. Now it might take decades. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/01/26/the-u-s-was-supposed-to-leave-afghanistan-by-2017-now-it-might-take-decades/
PBS. (2010, October 5). The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/pov/mostdangerousman/the-penagon-papers-and-wikileaks/
Pentagon Papers. (2011). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/pentagon-papers
Steven. (2006, September 8). 1957-1975: The Vietnam War. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://libcom.org/history/1957-1975-the-vietnam-war
Tharoor, I. (2013, February 15). Viewpoint: Why Was the Biggest Protest in World History Ignored? Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://world.time.com/2013/02/15/viewpoint-why-was-the-biggest-protest-in-world-history-ignored/
Vietnamization. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization
Vietnam Profile - Timeline. (2016). Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16568035
Vietnam War Protests. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests
Yerkes, S. E., & Cofman, T. (2006). What Price Freedom? Assessing the Bush Administration's Freedom Agenda. Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2006/09/middleeast-wittes
In the late 1960s, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War grew to an unprecedented scale. US pilots had dropped 7 million tons of bombs by the end of the war, doubling the number of bombs dropped in Europe and Asia during WWII (Steven, 2006). Resulting political and social turmoil changed the way people viewed foreign affairs and the federal government. But by the early 2000s, America was again involved in foreign conflict: the Afghanistan War. Analyzing the similarities between the Afghanistan and Vietnam Wars reveals insightful lessons regarding war and society; both periods in American history are characterized by interventionist foreign policy and public disapproval of the government.
Both the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars were fought in similar contexts; both were shaped by the US government’s desire to spread freedom and install democracies in countries torn by violence. In the 1960s, political leaders justified the war in Vietnam with the Domino Theory: if South Vietnam fell to the communist North, it was believed that communism would spread throughout the region. The US-backed South Vietnamese government fell to communism by 1975 (“Vietnam Profile - Timeline,” 2016), and foreign intervention was proven to be an unsuccessful means of spreading US ideology abroad. But by 2001, the US was again directly involved in foreign conflict. In response to the 9/11 attacks, the US launched its War on Terrorism. US foreign policy was firmly grounded in George W. Bush’s Freedom Agenda, which aimed to create stable democracies in the Middle East (Yerkes, 2006). Like the US’s policy of containment in Vietnam, Bush’s Freedom Agenda failed to solidify a US agenda in foreign territory.
Throughout the 1960s, anti-war sentiment prevailed in American society. During the Vietnam war, public opposition for the war manifested in protests and demonstrations. Beginning as a small movement on college campuses, the antiwar sentiment grew to become a widespread peace movement (“Vietnam War Protests,” 2010). Large scale demonstrations–including a march on the Pentagon with over 100,000 protesters (“Vietnamization,” 2010)–were indicative of the public’s growing dissent for the war. Similarly, when the US increased its involvement in the Middle East, massive organized demonstrations signaled the public’s growing frustration with US foreign policy (Tharoor, 2013). In both instances, public opinion was largely ignored by the government; de-escalation in Vietnam did not begin until Nixon’s 1969 Vietnamization plan (“Vietnamization,” 2010), and the US still maintains military presence in Afghanistan (Jaffe, 2016).
As public opinion turned against both the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, the release of classified government documents further augmented the public’s distrust for the government. In 1971 military analyst Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, government files that exposed the truth behind US involvement in Vietnam (“Pentagon Papers,” 2011). With public support for the war already dwindling, the Pentagon Papers dramatically reduced the public’s trust in the federal government. Similarly, WikiLeaks, an international organization of whistleblowers and journalists, released the Afghan War Diary in 2010 (PBS, 1010). The War Diary, composed of memos and reports by soldiers and intelligence officers, revealed that military gains in Afghanistan were extremely limited despite $300 billion in spending (PBS, 1010). In an interview with Christian Science Monitor, Ellsberg explained the similarities between the Pentagon Papers and the Afghan War Diary: “[The documents] look very familiar to me. Different places and names, but they are describing a war that is as thoroughly stalemated as was the case 40 years ago and more in Vietnam” (PBS, 1010).
Often referred to as “another Vietnam,” the Afghanistan War parallels the Vietnam war in several ways. Both wars were justified by ideological motives, both wars incited public protests, and both wars divulged hidden foreign policy agendas. Although there are differences between the wars, the overlaps illustrate the catastrophic results of US interventionism.
Works Cited
Jaffe, G., & Ryan, M. (2016, January 16). The U.S. was supposed to leave Afghanistan by 2017. Now it might take decades. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/01/26/the-u-s-was-supposed-to-leave-afghanistan-by-2017-now-it-might-take-decades/
PBS. (2010, October 5). The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/pov/mostdangerousman/the-penagon-papers-and-wikileaks/
Pentagon Papers. (2011). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/pentagon-papers
Steven. (2006, September 8). 1957-1975: The Vietnam War. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://libcom.org/history/1957-1975-the-vietnam-war
Tharoor, I. (2013, February 15). Viewpoint: Why Was the Biggest Protest in World History Ignored? Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://world.time.com/2013/02/15/viewpoint-why-was-the-biggest-protest-in-world-history-ignored/
Vietnamization. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization
Vietnam Profile - Timeline. (2016). Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16568035
Vietnam War Protests. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests
Yerkes, S. E., & Cofman, T. (2006). What Price Freedom? Assessing the Bush Administration's Freedom Agenda. Retrieved May 15, 2016, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2006/09/middleeast-wittes