The Justification of War

Tuong Le
Week 5
Response to "From Saigon to Baghdad"

The description of the "Vietnam Syndrome" was interesting to me namely because of how it changed the American public's views on what justified a war/US military intervention. With American exceptionalism, it was previously simpler for the US to utilize its armed forces in foreign affairs. However, after the horrors of and discontentment with Vietnam, the American public needed more to accept such actions.

I found it interesting that the first Gulf War was viewed as a success because it avoided many of the problems that the Vietnam war had. In particular, I found the lower number of US casualties and the lower amount of "innocent" casualties to be factors that would help me personally view that campaign as more successful, as my biggest moral issue with Vietnam was the indiscriminatory bombing/warfare that killed many women and children in Vietnam. However, I still question it and find it hard to convince myself that certain actions can be justified. Also, with how the media was controlled during that campaign, I wonder about the truth and how much the people know. Despite that, I do recognize that the media can be wrong or skew situations in ways that are negative to "the cause."

Q: Is it right for the government censor media during times of war in cases such as the First Gulf War?

Extra, because I have so many thoughts about this week's readings: With the fact that the US was attacked on 9/11, how does that skew the American public's opinion of the "War on Terror"? Does it make it more easily "justified" in the public's eyes because Americans now have a more personal attachment to the reasons for the war?

How did the idea that the Middle East might have WMD affect public opinion on the war effort being "justified"? How should the American public feel about the torture and other atrocities committed by US troops in Iraq/the Middle East?

Biggest question: Why does the US still believe that they are the most morally correct society and that they must spread their beliefs to other countries/the rest of the world? Bush cites the subsequent actions of the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge as things that US involvement could have stopped if troops were not pulled, is his reasoning valid?