On Vietnam, a number of “revisionist” historians contend that the U.S. & the Republic of South Vietnam were actually winning the war from 1968 onward, due to a shift in strategy similar to the shift in Iraq led by Gen. Petraeus.
It is certainly not the case that the Vietcong were anything other than an extension of the Communist government of North Vietnam. The review of this new book points out, too, that there was a bloodbath during and following the North’s invasion of the South. Whether it was less than, equal to or greater than the bloodbath during the war is debatable. But the cost of a relatively free people losing to a totalatarian dictatorship is more than just toting up the number of bodies.
If Iraq ever descends into chaos in the near future, the U.S. may be asked to go back by certain allies (Kurds, certain prominent Iraqis).
Say, hypothetically, Iraq descended into chaos within five years, perhaps due to the fallout from a wider war in the Middle East (Israel vs Iran, etc.). The U.S. might be seen as abandoning Iraq if it did not defend it from an Iranian-Shia takeover.
$240,000?!? Then I don’t expect I’ll be retiring.
There might be other projections worth looking at.
On Vietnam, a number of “revisionist” historians contend that the U.S. & the Republic of South Vietnam were actually winning the war from 1968 onward, due to a shift in strategy similar to the shift in Iraq led by Gen. Petraeus.
It is certainly not the case that the Vietcong were anything other than an extension of the Communist government of North Vietnam. The review of this new book points out, too, that there was a bloodbath during and following the North’s invasion of the South. Whether it was less than, equal to or greater than the bloodbath during the war is debatable. But the cost of a relatively free people losing to a totalatarian dictatorship is more than just toting up the number of bodies.
People don’t realize what a scourge TB was in historic times. Living too close together and passing it around was the primary way it was spread.
If Iraq ever descends into chaos in the near future, the U.S. may be asked to go back by certain allies (Kurds, certain prominent Iraqis).
Say, hypothetically, Iraq descended into chaos within five years, perhaps due to the fallout from a wider war in the Middle East (Israel vs Iran, etc.). The U.S. might be seen as abandoning Iraq if it did not defend it from an Iranian-Shia takeover.