Documenti di Didattica
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May 6, 2019
Thesis: The United States should not engage in wars without exit strategies, like the Vietnam,
Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, because these conflicts often end in the return of violence, the
● More than 3 million people died in the vietnam war - more than ½ of the people who died
● “Also, the United States knew very little about either Vietnam or Iraq before it became
mired in conflict.”
● It was not known until many years later if the U.S. effort in Vietnam made an impact, and
it will probably not be known until many years in the future whether the US will have a
● Bush said that we are going to war with Iraq because Saddam had weapons of mass
destruction, but it is unclear whether he actually had any - the US looked and couldn’t
find any
● The president at the time thought that there was a moral obligation to engage in the Iraq
war (because after the Cold War, the US was the only superpower), but it is hard to
● As both wars went on, the public opinion of them declined because little progress was
made.
● Even if peace is achieved in these types of wars, the US must remain in control and
supervise the country, which makes the war almost never ending.
● Americans are afraid of pulling out of Iraq because of what happened after America
pulled out of Vietnam. Like Vietnam, Iraq would most likely descend into chaos because
● “We certainly didn't win in Vietnam," said Hugh Bassette, an infantryman during the war
in Southeast Asia, "and we're not going to the win in Afghanistan and Iraq, either."
● There also wasn’t a “policy process” when deciding whether or not to begin a war in Iraq.
It wasn’t discussed or debated, no one tried to get the public’s support on it. It was just
decided there would be a war, and one was started. On the other hand, the decision to
begin U.S. intervention in Vietnam was carefully planned out. Though some decisions
ended up being faulty, this can’t be blamed on the lack of time spent discussing the issue.
● The Vietnam and Afghanistan Wars both caused the U.S. to intervene due to direct acts
of aggression by an outside source. For the Vietnam War it was when North Vietnam
tried to take over South Vietnam, and for the Afghanistan War it was 9/11. The war in
● "You can't go to another country and make people do what you want to do. They're going
to fight you back," Bassette, a 73-year-old Hampton native, said. In Vietnam, it was the
Viet Cong who fought back.
● “the issue of being able to identify an enemy combatant from civilians remains.”
● “The US used around 20 million gallons of herbicides from 1962 to 1971” in South
Vietnam
● “Between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. Air forces dropped around 8 millions ton of bombs in
Vietnam. Basic infrastructure in the North was devastated especially after Operation
● “Today there are still many children in Vietnam growing up with various diseases and
disabilities affected by the harmful chemicals carried out in the war.” - What Was the
● Many people tried to escape S. Vietnam and 200,000-400,000 people died in boats. Many
are refugees.
Works Cited
Daily Press. "Veterans Draw Comparisons between Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan." Daily Press, 14
Nov. 2015,
www.dailypress.com/news/military/dp-nws-vietnam-iraq-afghanistan-20151113-story.ht
Nessen, Ron. "Iraq and Vietnam—Differences and Similarities." Bookings, 21 Mar. 2008,
www.brookings.edu/opinions/iraq-and-vietnam-differences-and-similarities/. Accessed 6
May 2019.
2019. Interview.
Pillar, Paul R. "Why the Iraq War Really Was Different From the Vietnam War." The National
nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/why-the-iraq-war-really-was-different-the-vietnam-w
Rohn, Alan. "What Was the Impact of the Vietnam War?" The Vietnam War, 8 June 2013,
Afghanistan wars, because these conflicts often end in the return of violence, the destruction of