Vietnam in Iraq: Tactics, Lessons, Legacies and Ghosts

by Gow; James

• ISBN13: 9780415405638
• ISBN10: 0415405637
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-12-06
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Vietnam War has exerted a considerable influence over US foreign policy, its method of engagement, and its sense of credibility, military tactics and overall strategic initiatives since 1969. The Bush administration's intervention in Iraq 2003 departed significantly from the accumulated lessons acquired since the 1970's. Though Vietnam has been a frequent point of reference in regional conflict, various facets of that war have returned with even more frequency and persistence both within the United States, Iraq and elsewhere. This book aims: -To examine the impact of the Vietnam analogy on the war in Iraq -To assess the military tactical lessons that were learned from the Vietnam War -To examine the broader strategic lessons and the US concern with their credibility in fighting 'ground wars'. -To examine the influence and persistence of Vietnam's legacy in US politics, culture and diplomacy and its ability to continue to exert influence on Washington's tactics. -To examine theimpact of US foreign policy on both Vietnam and Iraq.

Table of Contents

Contributors	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	1
JOHN DUMBRELL AND DAVID RYAN
1 The final chapter? The Iraq War and the end of history	8
LLOYD C. GARDNER
2 The Vietnam laugh track	31
MARILYN B. YOUNG
3 Unraveling the Domestic Foreign Policy Consensus: presidential rhetoric, American public opinion, and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq	48
RICHARD A. MELANSON
4 Iraq and Vietnam: military lessons and legacies	66
RICHARD LOCK-PULLAN
5 'A national symphony of theft, corruption and bribery': anatomy of state building from Iraq to Vietnam	86
JAMES M. CARTER
6 'Vietnam', victory culture and Iraq: struggling with lessons, constraints and credibility from Saigon to Falluja	111
DAVID RYAN
7 Europe's Vietnam Syndrome: America and the quagmire of Iraq	139
JON ROPER
8 No more Vietnams: Iraq and the analogy conundrum	159
TREVOR B. McCRISKEN
9 Vietnam and Iraq: strategy, exit and Syndrome	179
JOHN MUELLER
10 Falling dominoes: the United States, Vietnam and the war in Iraq	193
MATTHEW MASUR
11 The Iraq and Vietnam Wars: some parallels and connections	209
JOHN DUMBRELL
Bibliography	222
Index	231