It is difficult to see past the "military" aspect of war but the current War on Terror has a number of components that are very much nonmilitary and whose outcome may be more important than any military battles. The media is strongly focused on the overt fighting in a small area but are there bigger dots that need to be connected?
There is little doubt that the purpose of the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 was to draw the U.S. military into an overseas battle with Islamic extremists. Whether the villains were a handful of extremists hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan or a group of sophisticates working within a government, the U.S. and a number of its allies are now heavily invested in the region.
Robert S. McNamara was the United States Secretary of Defense during much of the Vietnam war.
In 2003 he made the following statements (video) about the Vietnam war:
"I think we were wrong. I think my associates and I acted in accordance with what we thought were the traditions, principles, values of this nation, but we were wrong. And therefore I think we owe it to future generations to explain why, to try to draw the lessons so we won't make the same mistakes again. (...) We believed the communists were seeking to take over the world and there was some evidence of that. (...) We faced tremendous pressure from the right to expand the war. (...) We should learn from the past."
According to the top secret Pentagon Papers (commissioned by Robert McNamara in 1967 and leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971) the reasons for persistence in the Vietnam war could be broken down as:
70% - To avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat.
20% - To keep [South Vietnam] (and the adjacent) territory from Chinese hands.
10% - To permit the people [of South Vietnam] to enjoy a better, freer way of life.
ALSO - To emerge from the crisis without unacceptable taint from methods used.
NOT - To 'help a friend"
Are there relevant parallels between the War on Terror and the Vietnam war?
What would be the effect of a 'victory' in the War on Terror?
Even if a strictly military victory were likely, would that strengthen America's position or stabilize the region?
The website will look at recent world history to clarify the enemy that we should be fighting and suggest why military tactics may be counterproductive.
