Americans

Forty years ago, the War in Vietnam permeated American life. Journalists and cameramen were in the warzone, with the troops. Huge amounts of network and local news time was devoted to footage of war news, often narrated by those who were on the scene. With the draft in full swing, large numbers of young Americans did their two year hitch, cycling through South East Asia. Veterans were everywhere. They were glad to talk and they did just that, in churches, college dorms, construction sites, bars, everywhere you went. By the mid to late 60s, the American public had a pretty good idea what was going on in Vietnam, on a daily basis.

It's not the same with the war in Iraq. News footage and content is carefully censored. Access to the troops and the warzone is carefully controlled. The troops talk about doing their jobs. They don't speculate on the value of their presence, the quality of their leadership, or if the war was even a good idea, because they are professionals, just doing the job assigned to them.

It's a different war. It's playing out in a different way. I'm not sure the American public needs to be shielded from the reality of the war by the government. What I do know is that in the end, it won't make any difference.

American intervention in Vietnam started at the end of the siege of Dien Bien Phu. It started out very secret. The average American didn't even know we had troops there until 1959 and even then the government was careful to qualify our presence as advisory only. Things escalated quickly after that. What is important to remember is that the government enjoyed more or less unqualified public support for the war in Vietnam until 1966. There was a lot of civil unrest in the country in the early 60s. There were race riots, the free speech movement, and the great right wing backlash but none of it was about Vietnam.

When Vietnam became hopeless, the American public knew. Knew it had gone on long enough. Knew it was time to put a stop to it. The government was not responsive and that's when the trouble began.

You can't fool the American public. They don't like to be lied to. They won't be misled. Leadership that tries to are severely dealt with.