A new war in a new era

by Chris Ryan and David Weaver

A Third-World country devastated by war for decades. Thousands of refugees fleeing an unstable government. Years of colonization leading to factional alliances. American military "advisors" attempting to train locals in military strategy.

American leaders have asserted the necessity of military intervention to prevent endangerment of the American future and the nation's way of life.

To many of the Baby Boom generation, this sounds like a description of the Vietnam War of old; the conflict of the 1960s and 1970s that claimed 58,000 American lives.

But this description could also be used for the current U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. It has not claimed many American lives, but it has led some to ask what the potential costs and benefits will be in the "war on terrorism."

This is the war that began Sept. 11 when planes crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the war that appears to be in its early stages. Many think that it is too early to tell whether the current war will have the duration of the long-lasting American portion of the Vietnam War (approximately 1961-1971).

Glenn May, professor of history at the University, said the suddenness of the current conflict's beginning is one of the factors that sets it apart from the Vietnam conflict. The attacks are widely believed to have been arranged by exiled Saudi Osama bin Laden.

The Vietnam War took years to develop, and the U.S. involvement in the war was not immediate. The war evolved out of a long conflict between France and Vietnam, which started in 1954 when France was forced to leave Vietnam after 100 years of colonial rule.

Once the United States stepped into the conflict, its military involvement gradually progressed. According to the History Channel's web site about the Vietnam War, the United States increased the number of military advisers in South Vietnam from less than 700 to more than 16,000.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, fought British imperialism in the 1800s and a Soviet invasion in the 1980s that some say helped hasten the end of the Soviet empire. The Taliban emerged in September of 1994, seizing power in Kandahar, and overran most of Afghanistan for the next two years.

Media coverage, which some have historically blamed for Vietnam's failure, has changed since the 1960s.

May said media coverage of Vietnam increased after the march in 1965. He said that overall, though, there wasn't much coverage because there wasn't as much news in general. May said that the arrival of CNN in the 1980s brought news closer to the forefront of American culture.

"Here, the coverage has been so intense from the start because the start was easy to identify," May said. When the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, the scenes on television were horrific, and many people looked at the world differently within a day.

Now there is talk of the United States pursuing terrorists all over the Middle East, bringing the war to them. Does this mean the United States could become bogged down as it did in Vietnam?

"It doesn't have the deep forest and deep jungle that there was in Vietnam," May said. "It's probably, in certain times of the year, easier to maneuver."

On the other hand, when asked to describe similarities between Vietnam and Afghanistan, political science professor Jane Cramer said America faces tough terrain and an unstable political environment.

May said a military difference between the two wars is that the Taliban made itself a sitting target, making it easy for the United States to use its weaponry to try to draw them out. In Vietnam, however, "they weren't easily hit targets."

As they did in Vietnam, military "advisors" have been assisting Northern Alliance forces in removing the Taliban from its strongholds, often in the form of special forces operations.

May said predictions of where American sentiment will head are difficult to assess.

"It's apples and oranges," he said of the public's post-attack sentiments. "If it's close to anything, it's close to Pearl Harbor. America was attacked." However, he said this war is different than Pearl Harbor because there was a strong indication then that the United States was going to go to war with Japan, while there was no advance warning before the start of the current conflict.

"We have no choice," she said. "We did not want this war."

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