The Hill News



Two lengthy and devastating wars separated by three decades.

 One fought in the jungles of Vietnam and one in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan.

In Vietnam, American forces peaked at 535,000 troops. In Afghanistan, over 140,000, including international forces.

 One of us served in Vietnam in the pacification program designed to win the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. The other worked in Afghanistan and Iraq in both a military and civilian capacity. We both resigned from our posts because of objections to U.S. policies in the country and because we witnessed conditions on the ground that disproved the rosy view expressed by America's military and civilian leaders.

America’s leaders have difficulty admitting to bad news in major overseas adventures.

Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Earle Wheeler told the Economic Club of Detroit in 1967:  “I am convinced . . .we are winning the war in Vietnam.” General Wi! lliam Westmoreland, who commanded American forces in Vietnam, argued “Militarily, we succeeded in Vietnam. We won every engagement we were involved in out there.” 

By 1975, American military forces had departed the region under the guise of "Vietnamization" and the South Vietnamese forces were soon routed thereafter, with the last American helicopters leaving the roof of the American embassy with panicked Vietnamese left behind.

History is repeating itself in Afghanistan.

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