Derek Kawahara

October 18, 2015

ASA 2 - Section A02

Blog #5

     "From Saigon to Baghdad:The Vietnam Syndrome , The Iraq War, and American Foreign Policy" has opened my naive eyes to what the authors deemed a repeat in history.  Before reading this article I had no idea that the memory of Vietnam played such an integral aspect in the media and in policy making.  Reagan's administration was the most successful in discussing the Vietnam syndrome because it gave society a reason to believe that the US was not a "helpless giant".  There are many similarities between the Iraq and Vietnam Wars but the most similar aspect may be the support for the wars on the American home front.  It becomes nearly impossible for a nation to win a war without the support from its own people.  

     There is simply no question that the events in Vietnam have drastically altered American foreign policy as one can see from policies such as the War Powers Act in 1973.  Vietnam can be seen as the greatest mistake in foreign policy in America's history, but some argue that the Iraq War was worse as we were repeating history.  Which do you deem to be the worst?