In the short story written by Tim O'Brien, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien writes about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. He writes about the items soldiers carried on their backs and on their minds. This is similar to other wars such as the Gulf War in 1990. However, the technology, geographical features, and the politics of the two wars have several differences. There are similarities between Vietnam and Iraq: In both conflicts, there was pressure on the U.S. government to withdraw its troops when public opinion and media judgments in America turned against the wars. America got involved in Vietnam because it did not want another country going to communism (and therefore the Soviet sphere of influence) after what happened in China. America viewed Ho Chi Minh primarily as a communist threat rather than a nationalist unifier.
America became involved in the Gulf War due to request from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. A communist dictator named Saddam Hussain began to raid the country of Kuwait. This was due to the gain of having more oil production for themselves. Two aspects of the political dimensions of the Iraq and Vietnam wars: attempts at state-building in an alien culture, and …show more content…
In the Vietnam War, Americans were in the struggle for a period that lasted for eight years. In the Gulf War, American soldiers were there for a span of approximately three weeks. This was mainly due to the strategically advancement of air strikes taken into Iraq along with the American manpower the ground forces had versus the Iraqi ground forces. Overall, in Vietnam, the United States committed a peak-strength force of over 500,000 troops that incurred 58,000 American dead and 305,000 wounded. In Iraq, U.S. forces overwhelmed Iraqi military that resulted in 685 American soldiers'
America became involved in the Gulf War due to request from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. A communist dictator named Saddam Hussain began to raid the country of Kuwait. This was due to the gain of having more oil production for themselves. Two aspects of the political dimensions of the Iraq and Vietnam wars: attempts at state-building in an alien culture, and …show more content…
In the Vietnam War, Americans were in the struggle for a period that lasted for eight years. In the Gulf War, American soldiers were there for a span of approximately three weeks. This was mainly due to the strategically advancement of air strikes taken into Iraq along with the American manpower the ground forces had versus the Iraqi ground forces. Overall, in Vietnam, the United States committed a peak-strength force of over 500,000 troops that incurred 58,000 American dead and 305,000 wounded. In Iraq, U.S. forces overwhelmed Iraqi military that resulted in 685 American soldiers'