Keeping Resolve in Iraq:
The Real Lesson From Vietnam
By John E. Carey
The Washington Times
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Some respected leaders recently
advocated an expeditious American withdrawal from Iraq. Others favored a
postponement of the elections in Iraq. Many, watching the bloodshed in Iraq,
search for quick and easy ways to spare lives and halt the bloodshed.
Senator George McGovern has been among those saying Iraq will be around for
thousands of years with or without American help. True enough. But the Senator,
and many others, go a step further when they compare Iraq to Vietnam. Senator
McGovern has even said that Vietnam is now an American trading partner if not a
friend. In his mind, apparently, America’s decision to withdraw from Vietnam in
1975 made for a happy ending.
Comparing Iraq to the struggle in Vietnam seems problematic. Believing that it
is O.K. to fight a war half way and then depart precipitously and without a
complete understanding of all potential outcomes and consequences is
irresponsible and sadly distorts the lessons of history.
Ask the Vietnamese living here in America. They are torn by their deep loyalty
and love for the U.S. and the belief that they were devaluated in 1975 when
America executed the “cut and run.” The Vietnamese here now love the fact that
Americans helped them hold off the tide of the communist North for years. They
deeply value their freedom and their lives here in a country that has largely
accepted them. But the Vietnamese here in America are reticent to tell you what
they believe in their hearts and what they discuss in small gatherings among
family and friends: that America ultimately let them down in 1975, creating
chaos and bloodshed in Vietnam and Southeast Asia for years.
When America left Vietnam in 1975, the communists came south, sweeping away the
former South Vietnam, and imprisoning or killing untold numbers of
freedom-loving Vietnamese. More than 900,000 South Vietnamese were sent to
concentration camps. Millions lost everything: homes, family, jobs and all
possessions. A vast migration called the Vietnam Diaspora ensued. Something like
three million people left Vietnam, many in small, undependable boats. Many of
these “boat people”succumbed to starvation, the ravages of the sea, or murdering
pirates. Those that made it safely to other lands spread to all corners of the
earth. Vietnamese people now live in France, Norway and nearly every other
European country. They settled in Australia and other countries that would have
them. Almost 2 million people from Vietnam now live here in the U.S. and the
majority are now productive, legal citizens.
But the journey of these refugees was seldom easy. No one should minimize the
agony of the trip to escape the communists. Many Vietnamese were refugees for
years. Many of the “boat people” made it to the Philippines, only to be interred
in an infamous “camp” on Palawan Island. These refugees lived a life in limbo.
Palawan wasn’t quite a prisoner of war camp but it was a long way from the
freedoms of the former South Vietnam. And Palawan fell well short of the goal:
freedom and a home in America. During the Diaspora, some Vietnamese refugees
among the survivors spent ten to fifteen years trying to get to other countries.
Many were forcibly returned to Vietnam.
And what was left behind in Southest Asia? In Vietnam: communism, repression and
a loss of freedom. The economy in Vietnam is just now recovering from
twenty-five plus years of communist repression. After 1975, more than two
million people were killed by the communists in Cambodia. Southeast Asia was in
turmoil for years after the American withdrawal from Vietnam.
If you ask the Vietnamese who fled their homeland after the war ended in 1975,
they’ll tell you that the lesson of American commitment is to stay the course.
If that is not possible, they’ll beg American leaders to carefully consider all
the implications of an American commitment gone bad: a withdrawal with haste and
little regard for the plight of the allies.
So, what might the delay in the elections in Iraq mean? Would the insurgents be
emboldened? The answer is undoubtedly: yes. The insurgents, who are also the
terrorists, are looking for any sign of the erosion of America’s will. Any
indicator that points toward an early withdrawal of American forces means the
insurgents are on the right track to achieve their goals. The insurgents want
America out of Iraq so that they can work their will on the freedom-loving
Iraqis without American intervention.
And if America leaves Iraq, what happens to the freedom loving Iraqis? The Kurds
are trapped between Turkey, a nation that has little use for them, and the
Sunnis including remnants of Saddam Hussein’s former Bath party, who openly
despise the Kurds. Saddam Hussein once tried to wipe out the Kurds using
chemical weapons, as if the Kurds were so many cockroaches.
The Sunnis, roughly 20% of the Iraqi population, held power in Iraq for decades
during Saddam’s rule. They controlled the military, the police and other
important institutions of society, to the detriment of all others. They fear
that their past sins will be avenged by the majority after the elections. The
Sunnis also fear that their power will be totally and forever lost in the
election process and consequently want the elections delayed and America out of
Iraq.
The Shiia want the elections, which they see as an opportunity to re-capture
their rightful place as leaders of their own Iraqi destiny.
So what happens if the elections were delayed or America decided to leave Iraq
before the restoration of peace and stability? Chaos? Probably. Civil War?
Maybe. A nation partitioned into three or more parts? Quite possibly. Bloodshed?
Definitely. When America departs from a war-torn land, we know bloodshed
follows. American lives are saved while countless others die.
The insurgents in Iraq learned the real lesson of Vietnam: that any sign of a
lack of American resolve or a hasty American withdrawal can mean short-term
chaos but a long-term victory for those leading the insurgency.
http://www.vietamericanvets.com/
Reprinted with permission of John E. Carey. John Carey is former president of International Defense Consultants, Inc.
http://peace-and-freedom.blogspot.com/2006_07_11_peace-and-freedom_archive.html