Vietnam was a cold war game played for keeps.
On one hand it "culled" the population. Those
who were bright enough to get into college
could gain an exemption which they could spin
until they were beyond the draftable age.
As they were intelligent enough to get into
college, bright enough to stay in college,
they were worth preserving.
Those who weren't bright but had connections
could, with some political help, get into
the "Reserves" so they could play soldier
on weekends and avoid being lumped in with
those who "dodged" the draft.
During the years of Vietnam those most likely
to join gangs or become involved in crime
were shipped off to die in a forsaken place.
This raised the standard of living
for those who remained in America.
When the draftees returned, some were lucky
to get into University or a good job, while
others were abandoned to the street.
With the Draft abolished only those who
wished to join the military needed to.
Hence the function of War as a "culling"
process was removed.
However, the significance of Vietnam goes
beyond American shores.
It was the first war America lost. It was
the first war in which the propaganda
machine failed.
Those who protested the War in Vietnam
gained much of their information from
'unofficial sources', sources which
twenty years later were accepted as
truthful contra the American Government.
It was nearly thirty years after the War
in Vietnam that the Government again tried
to foist an unjust war on the American People.
Using lies, inferring greater danger than
existed, twisting information, America
was able to push into Iraq.
This action has caused America to lose as
much as, if not more than, the credibility
it sacrificed in Vietnam.
With an all volunteer military, America avoids
major protest, after all, everyone who is sent
to Iraq wanted to go.
(This of course belies the reason why many
people joined the military).
That there will never be a "winning" in
Iraq just as there could never be a victory
in Vietnam seems lost on the majority of
Americans.
The rest of the world, primarily the Islamic
world, sets its face against America, pushing
just so far, then a bit more, a bit more,
knowing that America can not respond.
Twenty years ago, the idea Iran was using
nuclear power would have had the bombers
in the air.
Today, due to the fear of response by the
Islamic world, America plays with sanctions
and hard language.
America can not speak in a loud voice to
Saudi Arabia, regardless of what it does
because it so needs the trickle of oil.
Having invented Arab nations, America is
stuck with them, and stuck begging oil.
Had America never involved itself in Iraq
the oil crisis might not have happened,
subsequent terror attacks might not have
been attempted, and the economy might
be at the level it was when the millennium
began.
There is no way to reanimate those who
died in Iraq. No way to regain the prestige
and power America held.
All that can be done is to try to stop
the slide, and that does not seem likely.
