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Originally Posted by CaramonLS
The US was fighting for the wrong reasons in Vietnam and clearly did not understand their enemy - as well, the bad pub from home was really one of the huge factors that got them out of the war.
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Well... the Vietnam War stretched over a decade, Iraq is still technically young. When the body count hits 4000-5000 (if), I think domestic pressure will steadily increase... though I don't know if the US citizenry is capable of domestic resistance like they once were, so that could be a point in US favour.
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I remember watching Fog of War with Robert McNamera, how he met one of the Vietnamese officials a long time after the war - it was clear that the US had absolutely no idea why they were resisting. They went into the war with the idea to "save them from communism" where the Vietnamese viewed it as something far different and need to fight for their freedom.
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Sure, great movie. Though, sometimes I feel like the US has the same attitude today. When I watch everything from FOX news to CNN, the common question seems to be 'why do these people hate us so much? Why does the world bash us so much?', when the answers, to outsiders, are obvious.
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Terror campaigns can be a rallying point, with that I agree with, but to a point. If you push and keep pushing eventually they will give and lose the will to fight. Vietnam was not also designed as a Terror campaign - if you put your mind to it, you can make it a lot more effective.
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Can you think of similar situations to Iraq when terror-campaigns by occupying forces worked? Japan/Germany, once conquered/occupied, put up extremely little resistance. The same is clearly not true in Iraq.