The Iraq War Vietnam Revisited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Iraq War Vietnam Revisited - Essay Example is making attempts to form an Iraqi legitimate state contrary to a background of insurgency, resulting in American death tolls and slight approval at home" (Grigg 12). "In Vietnam, we were making attempts to support the government that possessed too little legitimacy. But in Iraq, we're making attempts to form a government as well as back it up in such a way that it can advance legitimacy. And the things are utterly difficult to fulfill," explained W. Andrew Terrill (29). American policymakers have turned down ideas that Iraq, currently a major American battle-front front against terrorism, represents a Vietnam-like morass for 135,000 American troops that are inside the country. Though, for example, Terrill and Record consider there are very few war similarities between Iraq and Vietnam, when Communist armed forces supported by the U.S.S.R. and China defeated 500,000 U American troops (20). Despite this facts and ideas the authors of the report called Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities and Insights caution against dreadful after-effects in the case when the Vietnamese political lessons leave unnoticed. "Reiteration of those Iraqi debacles might result in pernicious after-effects for the American foreign policy," they add (57). The Vietnam War took the lives of not only 58,000 Americans but of 3,000,000 Vietnamese as well. Undoubtedly neither the U.S.A. nor the Iraqi people nor the rest of the world wants to see such horror events once again. Some experts consider that resemblance between Iraq and Vietnam is shallow but at the same time deep. This shallow resemblance is fully understandable and must serve just to attract our attention. Though the deeper resemblance must form policy and compel to choose alternatives that should appeal to our fears if they can result in the outcome possibly even more disastrous than during the Vietnam War (Hanson 33). America's involvement in Vietnam has, as a result, attracted much critical scrutiny, frequently addressed to the question, "Who was guilty" - "Who led the United States into this tragedy" A more enlightening question, it seems, is "How and why did this tragedy occur" The study of Vietnam should be a search for explanation and understanding, rather than for scapegoats. Focusing on one important period in this long and complicated story-the brief but critical months from November 1964 to July 1965, when America crossed the threshold from limited to large-scale war in Vietnam - helps to answer that question. For the crucial decisions of this period resulted from the interplay of longstanding ideological attitudes, diplomatic assumptions, and political pressures with decisive contemporaneous events in America and Vietnam (Powell 73). Victory in World War II produced a sea change in America's perception of its role in world affairs. Political leaders of both parties embraced a sweepingly new vision of the

Porter s 5 forces analysis and a life cycle analysis - why is the Assignment

Porter s 5 forces analysis and a life cycle analysis - why is the Australian Car Manufacturing Industry closing down - Assignment Example Although global and local economic conditions have played a major part in the death of the manufacturing industry, blame has also been placed on the many parties and factors involved. By studying the current state of the industry and using porter’s five forces analysis, we can better discern as to what the main drivers were that caused the ultimate death of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry. The Australian car manufacturing industry has become far too small to be sustainable for any particular manufacturer. Australia’s three car manufacturers Holden, Ford and GM all announced they would shut down their local manufacturing operations within nine months of each other. With the local economy facing harsh times it seems that with current size of the market and increased competition from imports has simply gotten too small to be profitable. As a matter of fact, the size of the market had gotten so small that all three companies began to rely on each other just to survive and stay afloat. It has been a long time coming, the death of the Australian auto manufacturing industry. Although, there have been many interrelated reasons that have caused the slow demise of the industry many individuals put the most of the blame on the federal government. It has been blamed for much of the troubles that have negatively affected local manufacturers from their low import tariffs. Many of the federal government initiatives such as their Free Trade Agreements with China and India, low import tariffs, and the controversial automotive financial bailouts have created an industry that cannot sustain itself. Others place the blame to the car manufacturer themselves that used the Australian government like their own piggybank to bail them out financially. Additionally, the federal government and their economic policy itself have created a nation with relatively high wages, strong currency coupled with the extremely low