Word: vietnamize
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Whichever story line prevails, the intensity of today's anti-Americanism would fade as Iraq recedes from center stage. The domestic American reaction may persist somewhat longer, however. There is the possibility of an Iraq syndrome, akin to the reaction that followed the U.S. involvement in Vietnam a generation ago. That defeat led Americans and their representatives to be wary of new overseas undertakings...
Here again, the Vietnam parallel may be relevant. Defeat in Vietnam did not prevent the U.S. from maintaining close cooperative relationships with other regional countries, including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. Nor did it stop the U.S. from forging sometimes productive ties with Vietnam's backers (including China and what was then the Soviet Union) or, with the passage of time, with Vietnam itself. Today Asia is the most dynamic part of the world, and the U.S. is a central participant in that dynamism...
Even more than Vietnam 30 years ago, Iraq constitutes a major strategic setback. There is no getting around this. But Iraq is just that--a setback. What is essential is that the U.S. cut its losses there, contain the consequences and look for new opportunities to advance its interests around the world. The sooner the post-Iraq era of U.S. foreign policy dawns, the better...
During the Vietnam War, Anthony served as comptroller of the Defense Department under Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. According to Young, Anthony used accounting systems to evaluate the effectiveness of military programs. Though the department did not want him to succeed—“Nobody likes transparency applied to themselves,” said Young—Anthony’s “power personality” got the job done...
...Kahl contrasts the Iraq war with prior counter-insurgencies in which the U.S. has been involved, and comes away impressed. In Vietnam, for example, he writes that the number of civilians killed per month was nine times higher than in Iraq. "Even if the estimates for Iraq are off by a factor of two or three," Kahl writes, "the conflict's casualty count is far lower than that in previous U.S. counterinsurgency campaigns...