In The End We Felt Betrayed – Afghanistan And Viet Nam

“There’s never been a noble war except in the history books and propaganda movies. It’s a bloody, dirty, cruel, costly mistake in almost every case, as it was in this war that would end so badly.” Harold G. Moore

“In the end we felt betrayed” said a Viet Nam veteran who sees parallels between what the US did in Viet Nam and Afghanistan. There are stark similarities – a swift American pullout from  a military with little support left and an enemy defying peace deals and violently taking over. 

There it was this morning.  The same photo that was taken of American helicopters swiftly whisking the American diplomats out of Saigon was taken of the American diplomats being whisked out of Kabul.

President Joe Biden met with Afghan president Ashraf Ghanti (who has fled the country) in June and said “We’re going to stick with you, and we’re going to do our best to see that you have the tools you need”.  DIdn’t Nixon do the same thing in Viet Nam?

 Kabul just fell so quickly that there was no plan in place to help the Afghans who aided the Americans. They will kill them all. I can’t believe we have learned nothing. In Viet Nam, we spent a lot of money and lost many lives both American and foreign in a doomed endeavor. Handing the war over to our allies on the ground  as a cover for an exit strategy has a name – Vietnamization.

The Taliban are fighting for their strong religious beliefs with nothing to lose. They were prepared to sacrifice every single one of their lives for victory. The Afghan military is fighting for a corrupt government, now without help from the Americans. As we learned in Viet Nam, the most dedicated to winning at all costs, will win. Did America expect this tribal country to make their own peace in a place where we for ten years could not?

Just as the fall of Vietnam to Communist forces posed no real threat to the United States, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban is not making us safer — just creating a new generation of people who will hate America and who may grow up to become terrorists against the nation that had their dad or their aunt killed.

Fly safe, (Because you can)

JAZ