Comparing the Vietnam War vs. Iraq War

671 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: what caused the vietnam war

The war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq differ in many ways such as; the reason for war, US support, the cost, number of deaths, and the time and place. In this essay I am going to compare the Vietnam War with the war in Iraq describing three ways in which the war in Vietnam differs from the war in Iraq. Three of the ways the two wars differ are the reason for war, number of deaths, and the cost.

The Vietnam War was a war over communism that started in 1950, when Ho Chi Minh, the national leader of Vietnam, introduced a communist government into North Vietnam. In 1954 it was decided to split the country at the 17th parallel, and was ruled under opposing governments, Bao Dai leading the south and Ho Chi Mihn the north. North Vietnam went to war with South Vietnam with the north being supported by Russia and China, as they were also Communist countries, and the south being supported by Britain and the USA.

The Americans entered the war in 1964 because they believed in the domino theory, that if one nation fell into communism then other nations would follow. Soon America found it almost impossible to fight against people who were so determined to win, so America pulled its troops out of Vietnam in 1973. Withdrawing the American troops resulted in the South Vietnamese forces being defeated by the communists who then took over the country.

The war in Iraq was declared in March 2003 for many reasons. Some of the reasons are to free Iraq, the oil, and because Saddam Hussein did not allow weapons inspectors search for nuclear weapons. The US wanted to take over Iraq and free its people from the torture they had been enduring for so long. Saddam Hussein had developed weapons of mass destruction that posed a long-term threat to America. He denied weapons inspectors access to search for nuclear war weapons and this served as a threat to other countries. The aim had been the destruction of the Iraqi society enabling the US and Britain to gain control of Iraq's huge oil reserves.

The Vietnam War was America’s longest war, lasting about 8 years, the number of deaths in the war were one of the highest compared to the number of deaths in previous wars.

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between the War in Iraq and the Vietnam War

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    While there are many similarities and differences between these two engagements, there are more similarities. One of the most visible similarities between the two situations are the situations of the current and past Presidents. The President in charge at the beginning of the Vietnam war was Lyndon B. Johnson. The current President in charge of the war in Iraq is George Bush. Both presidents were launched into situations which they were unprepared. Johnson was catapulted unexpectedly into the presidency after the assass...

    Read More

  • Comparing the Iraq War and the Vietnam War

    2081 Words  | 5 Pages

    U.S. political and military difficulties in Iraq have prompted comparisons to the American war in Vietnam. Unfolding events in Iraq have caused some observers to make analogies to the American experience in the Vietnam War. There are many reasons why most Americans believe that Iraq is becoming the new Vietnam, with U.S. troops getting shut down in a bloody war and occupation of a violent area. There are plenty of ways to compare and contrast the Vietnam and Iraq war. Many people have viewed Vietnam as a completely different war from the current one in Iraq. Despite these claims I have still noticed that there are many comparisons that have been made between the war in Iraq and the Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Vietnam War

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was known for the thousands of lived that were lost and the billions of dollars in debt that destroyed the US economy. To this day, it is debatable as to whether or not US involvement in the war was worth the devastation it caused to the country.

    Read More

  • World War II versus Vietnam War

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    World War II and the Vietnam War are very different when it comes to their political factors. For example, during World War II two presidents were active in the war’s aim. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the...

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Research Paper

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.

    Read More

  • The Peace Treaty between the United States and Hanoi

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hanoi quickly moved into the south to appoint officials and re-organize society. Northern and southern Vietnam had been separated for thirty years. The period of 1973-1975 was “their war”, not America’s war in Vietnam. This war was fought between Vietnamese. The United States was involved monetarily, but for the most part, this war was fought between North Vietnam vs. South Vietnam. North Vietnam won and the war was over. Vietnam had finally been reunited after many bloody years of war.

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War and The Tonkin Gulf Resolution

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.

    Read More

  • The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.

    Read More

  • The War Of The Vietnam War

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    ​“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”

    Read More

  • The Man I Killed, by Tim O'Brien

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most expensive wars in American history. It started from 1955 till April 30, 1975. This war lasted for almost 20 years. According to the article "How the U.S Got Involved In Vietnam" by Jeff Drake the U.S attacked Vietman and this wasn't supposed to happen. This war could have been avoidable. The 58,000 Americans didn’t have to die, nor did the 2,000,000 Vietnamese. The U.S government was responsible for their deaths. What the government told the public from the very beginning was that they were going to war because they had to stop the communist menace in Vietnam or other countries would follow suit; that they had to defend the democratic South Vietnamese government against the gathering Red hordes. While other people say it was an attempt by the U.S to suppress a heroic Vietnamese national liberation movement that had driven French colonialism out of its country (Drake, 1993).

    Read More

  • The Reasons Why the Vietnam War Lasted So Long

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    While much of this has been supported by the literature, the United States withdrew its forces from Vietnam in 1973. Some wonder why it took so long to withdraw and why this did not happen earlier. It is a difficult question to answer, but the Vietnam debacle was not something quick or clear. It was a situation that mushroomed. The actual goal was to preserve an independent, noncommunist government in South Vietnam, but by April of 1975, the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) ruled the entire country ("Vietnam War," 1991). The mission was not accomplished but the goal did emanate from paranoia about communism and a fear of the domino effect.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Prayer For Owen Meany

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    The war was also known as the American War (in Vietnam, as opposed to the Vietnam War in America), the Vietnam Conflict, the Second Indochina War, and also the War Against the Americans to Save the Nation (The History of the Vietnam War). It started on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975 (At a Glance June 2012). The main conflict that started the war was the aspiration of North Vietnam to unify the entire country under a single communist government that was modeled after the ones seen in the Soviet Union (now Russia) and China (Vietnam War |

    Read More

  • Good Morning, Vietnam: Not Historically Accurate

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Here’s a little riddle for you. What's the difference between the army and the Cub Scouts? Cub Scouts don't have heavy artillery!” Adrian Cronauer tried to bring a kind of relief to the people of the war through his radio show. Cronauer was a United States Air Force sergeant and radio broadcaster who inspired the movie Good Morning, Vietnam. The Vietnam War, which was by far the longest war the United States has participated in, went on from 1945 until 1975. Even though the United States was involved with the war since the 50’s, by aiding France, they did not send troops until 1965. The Vietnam War began because North Vietnam wanted to combine both parts of Vietnam into one big country, but South Vietnam did not want this. The United States helped South Vietnam from keeping the countries separate and keeping communism out of their country. The war seemed like it would never end so a cease-fire was arranged in January 1973; although the war did not officially end until April 30, 1975. In this war, almost 60,000 Americans died and about 2 million Vietnamese died. The United States only got involved because they wanted to prevent communism from spreading throughout the rest of the world. Good Morning, Vietnam is not historically accurate because it did not portray Adrian Cronauer or the Vietnam War in the correct way.

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War, Grandpa's Story

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Vietnam war was a costly and very long conflict that eroded the communist regime of North Vietnam and its allies against the South Vietnam and its ally, us the United States of America (Unknown Source).” The Vietnam War began on the eve of 1959, causing a struggle between two of our major national forces. These two forces were attempting to unify the country the both love, Vietnam.

    Read More

  • Effects & Aftermath of the Vietnam War

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States approached military action and helped establish the role of the United States within the new world order.

    Read More

More about Comparing the Vietnam War vs. Iraq War

Open Document