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Is the War in Afghanistan similar to the Vietnam War? Debate.org

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Home>Opinions>Politics>IstheWarinAfghanistansimilartotheVietnamWar?

IstheWarinAfghanistansimilartotheVietnamWar?
Askedby:jmellema

RelatedTopics:WarinAfghanistan(2001present),ConflictsandWars,Vietnam,VietnamWar,UnitedStates

47%SayYes
Reciprocalwarsnofurtherargument. AfghanistanandVietname

53%SayNo
Adifferentscale Theunitedstatesdeployedoverhalfamillion

areverymuchalike.Intheeyesofmanyveteranstheenemyis botholdandfamiliar,bothenemiesconqueredaEuropeanin powerusingthesamemethodofguerillawarfare.Inboth countiresgroupswereestablishedsuchastheARVNandtheANA withthesameintentions.Tacticswerethesamebutweregiven differentnamessuchas"searchanddestroymissions"inVietnam and"Sweepandclearmissions"inAfghanistan.

Postedby:CaptainKij Like Reply
5 3

troopstovitenamatthepeakofthewar.Thenorthandsouth vietnamesefieldedarmiesofseveralhundredthousandeach.Over 58millionsamericantroopswerekilledandmorethanamillion vienamesewerekilled.Afghanistanisaminorsideshowcompared tovietnam

Postedby:kimlagringaxo Like Reply
8 1

VietnamandAfghanistanWarsareverydifferent. Afghanistanwar

Theyaresimilar Bothwarsaresimilarbecausebotharegoing

throughthesamething.Innocentpeoplearedyingfornoapparent reason.BothAfghanistanandVietnamarefightingforsomething thatprobablyisn'tevenimportant.BothgotinvadedbytheUSand bothcostthesameamountofmoney.BothIraqisandVietnamese peoplewereprotrayedasbad.Theyoughttoseemlikealltheir peoplefromVietnamandAfgahistanareterrorists.Bothare fightingforawarthatdoesn'tneedtobefought.

Postedby:krazymonica101 Like Reply
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happenedbecauseofinternationalcounterterrorismoperation mixedupinatribalcivilwarwhereasVietnamwarhappened becauseofsuperpowersoverlaidontopofanationalliberation movement.TheAfghanistanwarandglobalcounterterrorism effortsweremoresuccessful.AlsotheAfghanistanwarwasmore aliketotheU.SPhilippionewar,whichU.Sdidwin.

Postedby:WendaLoch Like Reply
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VietnamandAfghanistanarenotsimilar VietnamandIraqare

AfghanistanissimilartoVietnam BasedonmyresearchIbelieve

thattheAfghanistanwarandtheVietnamwararesimilar.Firstof all,inbothwarstheenemiesdefeatedaEuropeanpower,then endedupinacivilwarfornationalreunification.Second,inboth warstheUSsetouttocreateaUSarmybasetotrainindigenous people.Finally,oneofthebiggestsimilaritiesisthatinbothcases theUSmisunderstoodthenatureoftheenemytheywerefighting.

Postedby:PeaceInTheMiddleEast Like Reply
5 3

completlytwodifferentsituationsthatarenotthesame.In NorthVietnamtheyhadasurplusamountofresourcesandpublic supportfromRussiaandtheUnitedStates.Comparedto Afghanistanthetalibanhadfewresourcesandhadnosupport fromabiggerandmorepowerfulcountrylikevietnam.Thesetwo countriesalsohaddifferentideologicalenviorments.InNorth Vietnamtheyfoughtsothattheycanaquireunityandmost importantlyindependence.However,inAfghanistanthepashtun refusedto,theyarenotunitedmainlybecausetheywasunderthe Talibangovernment.
Postedby:jode1234 Like Reply
3 4

NoquestionthatAfganistanisverysimiliartoVietnamnodoubt aboutit. AfganistanandVietnamdefeatedtheEuropeanpowerin

No,AfghanistanandVietnamwerenotsimliarwars. Vietnamwasa

aguerillathatbothlastedadecade.Alsoinbothcountriesthe UnitedStatestriestomodeltheirownarmyandimposeitinto AfganistanandVietnam.Bothwarscostaboutthesameaboutof moneyfrom$4trillionto$6trilliondollars.Bothcoutrieshave manymoresimiliarties.

Postedby:kAguilar8611

waraboutnationalliberationandtheseekingofindependence. ThewarinAfghanistanwasaboutterrorism.Thewarshad differentoperations,suchastheVietnamesehadaarmywith tanksandairpowerandAfghanistanwasmoreofarebellion.Also theUSspreadouthalfmillontroopstoVietnamandonly100,000 toAfghanistan.

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Is the War in Afghanistan similar to the Vietnam War? Debate.org

Postedby:cruzilenis
2 1

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TheAfghanistanandVietnamWararesimilar. Accordingtothe

articlethatIwasassignedtoreadabout,itshowsthatitissimilar. VietnamandAfghanistanbothdefeatedaEuropeanpowerina guerrillawarthatlastedadecade.TheUSdidn'tknowabouttheir enemiesinbothofthewars.Forbothwars,USmilitarygrossly misledtheAmericanpeopleaboutthesizeoftheindigenousforce overaprotractedperiod.Theyalsodidn'tunderstandtheir enemies.

Postedby:escape_toparadise Like Reply
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No,Idonotthinkso. IdonotthinkthewarinAfghanistanis

similartothewarinVietnam.Theymighthaveafewsimilarities, butIthinkthatgoeswithallwars.Itwouldbedifficulttobetotally different.However,Ithinkthecircumstancesandwhatisgoingon isprettydifferent.

Postedby:Anonymous Like Reply
5 3

ThewarinAfghanistanisnotsimilartotheVietnamWar. There

thisaserioustopic PresidentObama'sannouncementthathe

wouldextendAmericaninvolvementinAfghanistanthroughat leastJuly2011meansthatitwilllikelylastafulldecade.Willthe warthatbeganonOctober7,2001thenfinallycometoanend?Or arewesettingourselvesupforanevenlongerengagement,ina senserepeatingAmerica'sdisastrousquartercenturyinvolvement inVietnam?Therearemanyessentialdifferencesbetweenthecivil warthatdividedVietnamandtheTalibaninsurgencythatplagues Afghanistan,justasthereareimportantdifferencesbetween Vietnam'sdevelopingeconomyandAfghanistan'sthirdworld destitution.Butmanypunditsespeciallythosewithlong memoriesandexperiencecoveringVietnamseerealsimilarities betweenthetwowars.
Postedby:s8280990 Like Reply
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weredifferentstrategicenvironmentsbetweenthesetwowars withinwarsuppliesandallies.TheNorthVietnamesehadthe almostlimitlessresourcesandpublicsupportofasuperpower behindthem.Ontheotherhand,theTalibanhadcomparitivelyfew resourcesandthereisnoriskofescalationwithasponsoring superpower.

Postedby:drugs Like Reply
8 2

vietmanandafghanistanarenotsimilar! Bothcountries,vietnam

andafghanistanhavedifferentstrategic,differenttactics,different operations,differentideologicals,differentscalesanddiffernt internationalcontext.Afghanistanisadifferentsideshow comparedtovietnam.Bothcountrieshavedifferentreasonswhy thewarwasfoughtandhowitwasfought.Bothcountrieshaves differenttypesofenemysanddifferentamountofenemys.They havedifferentroleofalliesandrivals

Postedby:Steal_Your_Heart Like Reply
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BothwarsaresimilarbyBigDLando InbothwarstheUSisthe

enemybecausetheUSwastryingtocreateanindigenousarmyin it'sownimageinbothAfghanistanandVietnam.Bothcountries defeatedaEuropeanpowerinaguerillawar.Almost80%ofthe populationofbothcountrieswasrural,andliteracyhovered around10%.

Postedby:BigDLando Like Reply
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IdonotthinkthatVietnamandAfghanistanisnotsimilar. Vietnam

IstronglybelievethatthewarinAfghanistanissimilartothe Vietnamwar. ThereareafewreasonswhyIbelievethatthewar

inAfghanistanissimilartothewarinVietnam.Tobeginwithboth VietnamandAfghanistanhaveasimilarhistorybecauseatsome pointbothcountriesdefeatedaEuropeanpowerandafterthisthey hadacivilwarbothincidentslastingadecade.Notonlydothese countrieshaveasimilarpieceofhistorybutbothcountrieswere smartenoughtocreatetheirarmyandconstructtheirmilitary basedontheUnitedStatesArmyorganizationchartswhichmeant thattheirtechniqueswouldbesimilarorbetterbecausethey alreadyknewwhattheyweredealingwith.Anotherreasonwhy frommypointofviewtheVietnamandAfghanistanwarare similarisbecauseinbothwarstheUnitedStatesmisledthe Americanpeopleby"fixingtheirnumbers".Lastbutnotleastin bothwarstheUnitedStatesdidnotacknowledgeorputforward therealreasontobefightingthewaritsbasicallyafewwars withingonewhatImeanbythisisthatwhilewewerefightingin Afghanistanforexample,ourpurposewastofightingonsecular counterinsurgencywhileAfghanistanwassimplyfightingjihad. ThereforethereasonslistedaboveiswhyIbelievethatthetwo warsareverysimilar.
Postedby:staceyt Like Reply
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andAfghanistanisnotsimilar.Vietnamwasaproxywarbetween twosuperpowersoverlaidontopofanationalliberation movement,butontheotherhandwhathadhappenedin Afghanistanwasaworldwidecounterterrorismoperation.Another reasonthattherenotthesameisbecauseVietnamfieldeda conventionalarmywithtanks,artillery,andairpowerbutin Afghanistantheinsurgerywastheonlyeffort.Mylastreasonthat theyarentthesameisbecausetheVietnamfoughtwiththe dedicationofpeopleseekingunityandindependence,but afganastandidnt.
Postedby:LiyaJanae Like Reply
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sonotsimilar Thewarinvietnamwasacivilwarcausedbytheir

ownpeople.Afghanistantheircivilwarwascausedbyus.Thewar wefoughtinafghanistanwasagainstterrorism.Thewarin vietnamwastofightagainstcommunism.Thevietcongused unconventionalwaystofightagainstourtankstroopsand airstrikes.InafghanistantheafghansuseditemssuchasIEDsand carbombsnotpungysticks.

Postedby:nickyd247 Like Reply
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AfghanistanandVietnamarecompletlydifferentwarsbecauseof variousreasons. OneofthosereasonsisthattheVietnamWar

wasawarbetweentwosuperpowersandunliketheTaliban, Vietnamhadvariousreasourcesandhadasuperpower(theU.S) asanally.Theyalsohavedifferenceintheideologicalarea

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Is the War in Afghanistan similar to the Vietnam War? Debate.org

becauseNorthVietnamtriedtoobtainunityandindependeceand thePashtundidnottheyarenotasunitedastheVietnamese were.ThereisalsoamayordifferenceisscaleTheUnitedStates deployedoverahalfmilliontroopstoVietnamover58,000 Americansandmorethan1millionVietnameselosttheirlives.The U.Shasonlydeployedover1/5ofsoldiersthatweresentto VietnamtoAfghanistanandthereareonly,atmost25,000Taliban fighters.Thenumberssayitall,moresoldiersweresentto Vietnambecausethewarwasmoreintensethanitisin AfghanistanbutthosewhowerelostinAfghanistanareas importantasthosewhowerelostinVietnam.Thereforethereis nocomparisontotheVietnamWar,thenumbersaysitall.
Postedby:KenniaC Like Reply
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Bothcountriessimilar?Nodoubt ThewarinAfghanistanandthe

Vietnamwarareverysimilar.Themainreasonisthatboth countrieswereinwarwiththeUnitedStates.Alsobothwereina guerillawarwithanEuropeanpower,andtheydefeatedthem. Theguerrillawarbothlastedadecade.Inbothcountrieseighty percentofthepopulationwereruralandlitracyhoveredaround tenpercent.BothwarwerelandwarsinAsia,9,000mileslong andextremelyharshroads.Ithinkthey'resosimilarthandifferent.

Postedby:Idalismxo Like Reply
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Yes,theVietmanWarissimilartotheWarinAfghanistan. The

VietmanWarisverysimilartotheWarinAfghanistanbecauseof manyreason.Fromtheverybeggingtheybeenfightingthesame enemy.Oncetheyrealizethattheybothbeenfightingtogettheir freedom,thesonnertheywillrealizethemistaketheybeen commintedandcorrectthem.Also,VietnamandAfghanistanboth defeatedanEuropeanpowerandthanafteradecadetheyboth foughtacivilwar(VietnamfoughttheFrenchwhileAfghanistan foughttheRussian.)ThroughouttheyearsAfghanistanand Vietnamhavesharemanysimilarity,althought,thebiggestone hastobetheirstrategiesinfightingtheirwars.
Postedby:dilainya Like Reply
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theyarenotthesame Thenorthvietnamesefieldedaconventional

armywithtanks,artilleryandairpower.NorthVietnamwiththe fervorofpeopleseekingunityandindependence,thepashtundo notfight,theyaren'tunited,thereisnofervorforthiercause.The VietnamesewarwasabiggerwarthanthewarinAfghanbecause UnitedStateshadtosendtonsmoretroopstovietnamratherthan Afghan.

Postedby:Oliverioo Like Reply
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AfghanistanisjustlikeVietnam. Thereisnodifferentfrom

afghanistanandvietnam.Theplacesandthefacesmaychanged buttheenemyisoldandfamiliar.Bothwerelandwarsinasiawith logisticslinesmorethen9000mileslongandextremelyharsh terrainwithfewroads.Invietnamtheunitedstatesinsistedon fightingawarcommunismwhiletheenemywasfightawarof nationalreunification.Inbothcountriestheunitalstatessoughtto createanindigenousarmymodeled.Wehaveapparentlylearned nothingfromvietnam.

Postedby:cuff_you_know_who_this_is Like Reply
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theamountofdeathsbetweenboththeamericansandthe vietnamespeople Bothwarswherenotsmiliarbecasueonethe

rateofdeathsbetweenthatwartherewasover58,000americans werekilledandmorethenonemillionvietnmesewerekiledthats warwasaverybrutalwarmanyonbothsideslotstherelove ones.Evenafterthevietnamesemanwhofoughtwasstilltreaded likecrapeventhotheywasaheroisawayforfightforthereprid anddignity.

Postedby:flyboymaine Like Reply
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Theyarenowherenearbeingsimilar! Firstofall,Vietnamfought

Thetwowarsweresimilar ThewarinVietnamandthewarin

Afghanistanweresimilarinsomeways.VietnamandAfghanistan hadbothdefeatedaEuropeanpowerintheGuerrillawar.Also, bothofthosewarswerelandwarsinAsiaandbothofthesewars costaroundthesameamountofmoney.Thewarsweresimilar becauseinbothwarstheUnitedStatesmillitarygrosslymisledthe Americanpeopleoveraprotractedperiod.

Postedby:ThalyaM Like Reply
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withpeoplewhohadhopestoseekunityandoverall INDEPENDENCE!OntheotherhandthePashtunsdidnot.The reasonforitallhastobethat:Theyareusedto it(Pashtun/Afghans),livingundertheTalibangovernment.DUH! Theydidn'thavethe100%passiontoseekunityand independenceliketheNorthVietnamese.DoIhavetosay anymore?ThereisNOcomparison.

Postedby:ValeryJ Like Reply
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Ithinkthetwowarsareverysimilar. Firstofall,theyarenota

vietnamandAfghanistanarenotthesimular. Unlikethevietnam

war,oratleastnotawarinonesense.Wehadnobusinessbeing inVietnam,andwehavenobusinessbeinginAfghanistan.Weare goodpeople,andwearebeingwhatwearetold.Wefeelitisthe rightthing,buttheydontwantusthere,andtheydontwantour help.

Postedby:patricia.green10 Like Reply
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warisacontestacoalitionofstatesoperatinyunderU.N.Also Afghanistanisainternationalcounterterrorismoperationmixedup inatribalcivilwarbut,Vietnamwasaproxywasbetweentwo superpoweroverlaidontopofanationalliberationmovement. Latlynottosahythatthelostofthelivesinthevietnamwararn't seriousbut..AlotmoreliveswerelostdurringtheAfghanwar.

Postedby:takimariee Like Reply
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TheEyesBehindEnemyLines:Wehavenotunderstoodour mistakes!!! Twowarsofviolenceandcotreversyofsimilarityhas

Theyarenotsimilar! Thesetwowarswerecompetelydiffrent.To

givenmixedopinion.ThewarinAfghanistanissimplya reincarnationofthewarinVietnam.InbothwarstheU.S.Was undermanned.TheU.SinVietnamdraftbroughtinuntrained soldiersandwithAfghanistantheU.Salsobroughtauntrained

startoftheVietnamesewasaunitedcountrywhileAfghanistan wasnt.ThisbringsVietnaminahigherandmorepowerful position.Alsosomethingthatdistictseachwarfromoneanotheris thatfactthatintheVietnamwarover58,000Americans,and morethan1millionVietnamesewerekilled.Whileinthe

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Is the War in Afghanistan similar to the Vietnam War? Debate.org

Afghanistanwaronlyaboutalowtensofthousandswerekilled.
Postedby:Claryyxo Like Reply
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NationalGaurdintowarwhichdoesnthavetheexperienceofthe realmilitaryforces.TheU.Sforsuperiorreasontoutedinbothwar toshowthattheyarepowerfulbutinbothwarstheywere undermanned.InbothwarstheU.Smisunderstoodthenatureof theenemyinbothsituation.Thesetwowarsarebothwarsthat werestretchedinlength.ThelongertheU.Sfights,thegreaterthe chanceoffailure.Itisnotaboutthedifferenceintime,butinthe similaritiesoftheissuesofwar!

Postedby:CmacMoney23 Like Reply
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thiswarisn'tsimilar Ibelievetheafghanistanwarisn'tsimilarto

Theyarethesame. BothvietnamandAfghandefeatedaeuropean

power.Thisisoneofmanythingsthehavethatvietnamand Afghanhaveincommen.Dontforgetthatbothofthemwereland warsinAsia.Theyalsobothtookcontroloverpoliticalpeopleinan uncloseableborder.Bothcountrieshadruralcountries.Alsoknown asthecountryawayfromthecities.Theybothwereenemiesof theU.SandbothbomdtheU.S.Asyoucanseetheyhavealotof thingsthesame.

Postedby:carlospiano Like Reply
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theveitnamwarbecauseafganistanisaninternational countertotismoperationmixedupinatribalwarbuttheveitnam warwasdifferentbecauseitwasaproxywarbetweentwosuper powersoverlaidontopofanationalliberationmovement.Alsothe vietnamesefoughtwiththefervourofapeopleseekingunityand independancewhiletheafghaniesdonot,theyarenotunited becausetheyliveunderthetalibangovernment.Finally afghanistandoesnotresemblevietnamintheinternationalcontex inthestrategicoperation.Taticalorideological.

Postedby:s8285365 Like Reply
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ThewarinAfghanistanisnotsimilartotheVietnamwarbecause...

ThewarinAfghanistanandtheVietnamwarhavemanysimilarities.

BothVietnamandAfghanistanhavecompletelydifferentideason wartheybothhavedifferentsanitiesandplanswhenitcomes downtowartheybothobviouslywanttowinbutVietnamfor tryingtogetindependencefortheircountry.Theyseekedunityfor theircountrybutlost.Afghanistanfoughtfortheirlandandpower.

Postedby:BAguilar Like Reply
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BothcountriesdefeatedaEuropeanpowerinaguerillawar.Also bothcountrieshadlong,uncloseablebordersinwhichthey maintainedabsolutepoliticalpower.Sincebothcountrieswere landwarsinAsiathentheUShadadvantagesingroundmobility becauseofalltheterrainandfewroads.Lastlyinbothwarsthe USinsistedonfightingagainstcommunismwhileVietnamwas fightingfornationalreunificationandAfghanistanwasfightinga jihad.ThetwowarsalsohaveothersimilaritiesregardingtheUS military.

Postedby:martinez03 Like Reply
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TheyAreNotSimilar! AfghanistanandtheVietnamarenotthe

same.Thedifferencebetweenthembotharethattheydonot havethesameforeigninternaldefensethattheyshare,theyhave theirown.Also,theyhaveadifferentsecurityassistencefromon another.Theyalsodontknowwhentoputastoptothewar,they willcontinuethewarforalongastheyseemtheywantittobe.

Postedby:calvin624 Like Reply
2 0

AfghanistanandVietnamaresimilar. Afganistanhadguerilla

groupssodidvietnam,TheyhadANAandVietnamhadARVN, Theybothinsistedinfighting,TheUnitedStatesLostinVietnam becausethepoliticalsandmilitaryfailure,andtheexactsame thingishappeninginAfghanistan.TheUSisdoingsomething differentthistimearoundtheytryingtostablishacapitalism govermentoutinAfghanistan.

Postedby:Theplayboy017 Like Reply
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No,itisnotthatsimilar. TheVietnamWarwastotallyfora

differentpurpose.Weweretryingtogetridofthecommunist governmentoftheNorthVietnamese,anddespitewhateveryone thinksabouthowwelosttheVietnamWar,wewerealmostatthe edgeofwinningthewaruntilwewereforcedtopulloutbyorder ofthePresidentbecausethe"people"didn't"like"it.Ifwestayed infor2moreyears,wewouldhavebeatentheVietkong(funfact: TheaverageamericanforceintheVietnamWarwerehavingakill ratekilling10ofthemtooneofourdeaths.Only54,000people diedinVietnam,overa12yearwarspan.Ifyoucompareitto WWII,in5yearsinWWII100,000+Americansdied.).The Afghanistanwarismaybejustaslong,butwearecurrently winning,andarefocusingmoreontheterroristgroupratherthan anotherarmy.
Postedby:ajers1000 Like Reply
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