war in Iraq and Vietnam

It certainly started out the same Gulf of Tonkin=WMD

Well, no draft. Yet.
No pictures of dead soldiers. Not really.
No Communists? (but there is that whole problem of the 'domino effect'...)
I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Six months ago it looked like it was going to turn into another Vietnam, but since then the number of US casualties have decreased. So it's possible, but probably incomparable.

And how do most people in the US feel about the war in Iraq?

The casualty rate has increased after "mission accomplished" was declared and has not decreased since.

As for comparison of the War in Iraq to Vietnam, the total casualties are not comparable as there haven't been the number of troops deployed as there were in country in say 68 or 69. Moreover, todays body armor is better than a generation ago and the lethalities are drastically reduced; however, there are many more surviving amputees than during the Vietnam conflict.

A good web site, with a lot of links, on Casualties in Iraq.

Here's a gruesome plot of the casualties by month

Rap

More comparison information here

More like Korea. That one hasn't ended either.

The only reason people try to say the war in Iraq is turning into another Vietnam is because these people are anti-war. There are vast differences between the scopes of the wars, the mission statements, and the rules of engagement. Additionaly, there is the main reason we were in both places. Vietnam was part of the Domino theroy(the belief that if one country fell to communism, all the countries in that area would fall to communism) and a globbal war on terrorism and terrorists. Fighting communism was America's(and Russia's) parenoia that the other country was trying to take over the world. A global war on terrorism (although broad) is not parenoia. If you think that we are safe from terrorism -from inside and out, go visit Oklahoma city or New York.

Quite wrong ralph (and welcome). They aren't exactly the same, but there are a lot of striking similarities.

First, communism and terrorism (as you mentioned) are very similar in the ways that the American people think about them. Both were imminent threats that were used to justify Vietnam and Iraq respectively. Both the communists and the terrorists were living in our country and both could strike at any moment.

If you are old enough you will remember Sen. McCarthy asking for more power to investigate communists living in our country... this doesn't sound like the Patriot act debate? I also am old enough to remember duck and cover and our constant need to be alert for a violent attack.

The start of the conflicts Vietnam and Iraq were both justified by a reason that is now questioned Vietnam was started because of the Gulf of Tomkin event (which is now greatly in dispute). Iraq was started because of the threat of WMDs.

Our basic goals in Vietnam and Iraq are the same. We were in Vietnam for the purpose of training an army to fight against the Vietcong. We stated that as soon as the South Vietnamese had the troops to defend themselves we would leave. We are in Iraq to train the new Iraqi army against the Insurgency. As soon as the troops are ready to defend themselves we will leave.

The same argument is used that people who oppose the war are supporting the enemy. In the seventies anti-war people were called communist sympathizers, now they are supporting the terrorists. They were all "unpatriotic".


There are more striking similarities that I will list if necessary.