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Basra: Echoes of Vietnam for the Oil
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Re: Basra: Echoes of Vietnam for the Oil
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vainamoinen
It's not a war - it's their country.
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Apr 20 08 5:49 PM
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Great piece of writing!
For those interested in further examining the Iraq/Viet Nam parallels I would recommend Frances Fitzgerald' Pulitzer Prize winning "Fire in the Lake" for an in depth analysis of of America's debacle in Viet Nam and Pulitzer prize winning author Thomas Ricks' "Fiasco, the American Military Adventure in Iraq" for an up to date articulation of our unfolding debacle there. Both provide in depth descriptions and analyses of how we lost and are currently losing both these guerrilla or non-traditional type of wars. It all starts with the extreme hubris of American political leadership, is followed by the acquiesence of the military establishment, often against their own better judgement, and ends up with the inability of civilian and military leadership to adjust their goals and plans once engaged with an entrenched and dedicated opponent.
It seems to me that is not possible to understand the oil war we are engaged in without understanding war in general and war in the West in particular.
Von Clausewitz, mentioned in the article, is central to this discussion and John Keegan's "History of Warfare" includes the best expanation of which I am aware of von Clausewitz's view and his role in European military history and philosophy. Briefly, von Clausewitz was a proponent of "big battle" military engagements, dating back to the plains of Marathon, as decisive events in the history of wars and nations. Western military establishments still believe they can win modern military conflicts using Clausewitzian strategic approaches (shock and awe!). As Viet Nam proved and as Iraq is proving, they cannot - no matter what Petraeus is saying or what the bogus spin in the mass media suggests. Please see Keegan for a cogent explanation of this fact.
And just where was the German 6th Army headed when they were destroyed by the Russians in the winter of 1942-43 at Stalingrad? To the Caspian oil fields of Baku. It's pretty hard to run Panzer Divisions all over Europe without diesel - and Hitler knew it. The contemporary parallels here appear to me to be obvious.
Finally, not only is it their country - it is their oil!
Shock and awe will never change this fact.
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