Saturday, November 8, 2008

Similarities & Differences Between the Vietnam War & Iraq War

Bennett, Drake. “Where’s the Protest?” The Boston Globe 5 November 2006: D1.


This lengthy article reports that, according to poll numbers, the Iraq War is as unpopular as the Vietnam War was in the late 60’s. The author then questions why there aren’t any large scale protests like there were over the Vietnam War. He explores several possible explanations for this. The first is that, unlike the Vietnam War, there isn’t a military draft today. The second reason might be that many who are against the war use the internet to do their protesting. Lastly, the author says it’s possible that the public will show their displeasure with the war by exercising their right to vote.


Cavanaugh, Jeffrey M. "From the 'Red Juggernaut' to Iraqi WMD: Threat Inflation and How It
Succeeds in the United States." Political Science Quarterly 122.4 (2007): 555-584.


The author of this article argues that in both the Iraq War and Vietnam War, there was threat inflation. He outlines several causes for this which include what he calls “strong trigger events” along with an atmosphere of secrecy and the President’s command of the security bureaucracies. The author also suggests reforms that should be made to prevent this from happening in the future.


Muller, Bobby. “A Broken Contract.” America 196.19 (2007): 9-10,12.


The author of this article compares the services that wounded soldiers returning from Iraq receive to the services that were received by wounded Vietnam soldiers. As a wounded Vietnam veteran, the author presents a unique, first-hand view. He argues that Vietnam veterans were at a disadvantage because Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognized at that time and that, although it is recognized today, the returning soldiers still aren’t receiving the care they need and deserve.


Schuman, Howard, and Amy D. Corning. "Comparing Iraq to Vietnam: Recognition, Recall, and
the Nature of Cohort Effects." Public Opinion Quarterly 70.1 (2006): 78-87.


This article presents the results of a survey conducted in 2004 and 2005 in which the respondents were asked whether the Iraq War is more like the Vietnam War or World War II. The results are analyzed in terms of age, gender, race, geographic region, education, and party identification.

2 comments:

Sarah F said...

Dear Nicole-

I think that these articles look very interesting and really explore your topic well. The Vietnam War has been a controversial topic for many years.Your abstracts explain your topic well and give the reader an idea of what the paper is going to include such as the opposing view points of the war and if we should have been involved. I wish that I would have thought of this sooner, but we have quite a few gentleman that live in our community that are Vietnam Veterans. One was a medic and was shot in the stomch while helping another soilder to safety. Another man who speaks at many events was blinded and has severe burns on his face from a battle that he was involved in. I think that your paper will be very intereting and I am excited to see the finished product.

Ericka said...

It is astounding how many parallels we are able to make between these two wars. And good annotations, you were very thorough. It would be very interesting to read what conclusion you come to at the end of your paper.
I can't say that I know too many Vietnam vets personally. Any that I do know won't talk about their experiences to this day. Reading what the "experts" say on the issue will be interesting, when balanced out by what we have been able to get from vets who are willing to talk, and from footage taken during the conflicts.