Early Involvement  Vietnam was a colony of France  Communism was the main factor that led to war.  Ho Chi Minh was the leader of Communism in the north  Soviets supported the communist North and the U.S. supported the South.  The DMZ is the border between the North and the South.

Discontent  Vietcong were the guerilla military force. Trying to make all of Vietnam a united Communist country.  Small groups  Hit and run tactics  No uniforms  Used tunnels and trees  Neither side necessarily knew what was going on.

American Aid  Domino Theory – that if Vietnam were to fall to the communist powers than every other eastern nation would soon fall.  Kennedy sent money, supplies and advisors to South Vietnam.  Vietnamese boats attacked U.S. ships in open water  Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorizing the president to send as many troops as need to win the fight in Vietnam.

Guerilla Warfare  The war was in the Jungle – no place was safe  Soldiers lived with civilians – who was who?  The U.S. was discouraged, the war lasted 10 years and nothing changed.  Death toll at nearly 60,000 U.S. troops  The violence and destruction was on TV

War at Home Hawks  Supported the war  Stop communism from spreading  Don’t question the government. Doves  Wanted peace NOW  Included hippies, and college protesters  Too many deaths, too much destruction, and too little support from the Vietnamese. The draft resulted in most of the troops being poor kids who could not afford college. Exemptions were given to married men, college students, and the only child.

Tet Offensive  During the Chinese New Year celebration  Viet Cong attacked during the Tet Holiday in 1968  Huge attack was very devastating to U.S. troops.  U.S. thought soldiers would be home by Christmas, this changed that.  U.S. realized we were not winning the war.

The End  President Nixon wanted to stop the movement of supplies from North Vietnam to Cambodia  Remember Domino Theory  Cambodia breaks out into Guerilla warfare  Nixon secretly negotiated with North Vietnam  U.S. troops pulled out of Vietnam in 1973 – South Fell to Communism in 1975

Iraq War

 War is never by the books.  To many experts, the conflict in Iraq has entered a new phase that resembles a classic guerrilla war with US forces now involved in counterinsurgency.  Despite the lack of ideological cohesion among insurgent groups, history suggests that it could take as long as a decade to defeat them.  Guerrilla warfare is the most underrated and the most successful form of warfare in human history  It is a defensive type of war against a foreign invader. If the guerrillas don't lose, they win. The objective is to wait out your opponent until he goes home.

Different from Vietnam  Iraqi insurgents have no means of deploying battalion- size forces, as North Vietnam and the Viet Cong did with help from the former Soviet Union.  Iraq won't become a proxy conflict between superpowers, as the Vietnam War was.  Still, Iraqi insurgents have the advantage of terrain - not jungles but an urban setting.  It is difficult to tell the fighters from innocent civilians.  Insurgents now are attacking US forces 87 times a day.

Vietnam War. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from Combat Chronicles Web site: Works Cited Page War in Iraq. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from Spoils of War Web site: