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Originally Posted by bobkoure
It's the same thinking that got us / kept us in Vietnam for so long. As Lothar5150 says, that war is purely of academic interest at this point - which means we're free to repeat the mistake, I guess.
FWIW, the parallels between 1968 and now are a bit scary - including the "support our troops" bit - as though putting our brave folks in harm's way in a place they didn't need to be was "supporting" them. Given this morning's election results, it looks like a majority here thinks this is a good way to go - just glad I don't have any draft-age children.
Of course, I live in New England, and we're very out of step with the rest of the nation (except maybe the Pacific NW). I do think we should'a left the CSA go its own way, back when they wanted to (that war wasn't originally about slavery but about money and control of it).
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Vietnam and Iraq are not even close to the same war from a geo political standpoint. The only likeness between Vietnam and Iraq is that they are both now counter insurgences. Further, the Geo politics of 1968 and today don’t even compare. North Vietnam had very generous support from China and the Soviet Union. The insurgence in Iraq are on their own. Despite popular (un-educated) thought we were actually winning in Vietnam Operationally. However, don’t believe me you can read it form
General Vo Nguyen Giap himself., this is required reading in my circle. When I said that Vietnam was academic, I meant that literally.
No one wants a draft, especially not the Pentagon. It would be the absolute worst thing to happen to the US military in 30 years. Therefore, you can, can the scare tactics. I went to war with officers with masters and PhDs and non-commissioned officers/enlisted who had Bachelors degrees. Everyone knew there job and how it fit into the big picture. "We" want to keep that way (no room for second string).
Your comments about the CSA must make you a darling among your black friends.