From Saigon to Baghdad

Kevin Wang

ASA 2 Section 2

Week 5

From Saigon to Baghdad

I really connected with the sentence “This means that students who study the war today do not feel bound to take as much of an ideological stance on what went on there.” The article describes the effects that the Vietnam War and protests had on foreign policy and military involvement. Presidents and leaders are now more wary with sending troops overseas and intervening in other countries. On one side, people complain that the U.S are not taking action enough anymore. We are not jumping to the aid of countries that need it and are not setting a good example for other countries. On the other side, people are glad that we are taking a more cautious approach, and that we can be even more cautious. We’re not jumping to the aid of other countries and focusing more resources on ourselves.

My personal opinion is that we should seriously consider intervening in situations that threaten human rights and lives, and to support efforts to overthrow dictatorships and oppressive governments. Obviously, we don’t have unlimited resources to do all this and must prioritize which to be involved in. After all, we were supported by foreign powers in our revolutionary war and could not have won without them. There will always be a risk when it comes to defending other nations. But when will our nation be ready for foreign military involvement without economic and corporate interests polluting the goal?