War Lessons

War: Then and Now

By:

The most dramatic lesson learned in Vietnam was not over seas, it was right here in the United States. That lesson was that people have the right to challenge the government's right to go to war. The Vietnam was the first time in history that the American people successfully challenged military action by the US government. The people realized that Military ways do not always solve political and social problems, which in itself was a lesson. The great lesson though was that they had the right to challenge such actions.

All previous wars from the American Revolution right up through World War II were popularly back by the majority of the population, after all, the people saw a direct threat to their freedom and lives. Vietnam, however, was a little harder to graab on. The American people had trouble connecting a bunch of rice farmers that had little to no technology beyond a few farming implements, with a threat to US or even World security. How well does a farming equipment compare with fighter jets?

On February 8, 1965, the Students for a Democratic Society issued a statement of outrage in response to bombing of North Vietnam saying that the US was supporting a dictatorship, not freedom, and was intervening in a civil war, not a war of aggression. They did have a point, the leaders of South Vietnam, the side that the US was allied with, were Pro-American dictators.

In March and April the United States began sending thousands of combat troops to South Vietnam. In response, the SDS marched 20,000 people to the capital.

Another peace march was held in Washington and the anti-war leaders urged Ho Chi Minh to respond to American peace initiatives. As a result the US temporarily halted bombings in the hopes that North Vietnam would give in. Of course North Vietnam didn't give in and the fighting continued, but as the body bags piled up so did opposition to the war.

By 1967 nearly half a million American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam and protests were larger and more frequent than ever. About 200,000 people marched from the United Nations building to central park and 50,000 people gathered in San Francisco. In Oakland, California thousands tried to close down an army induction center after non-violent demonstrators were arrested. A large number of people burned their draft cards in protest or jumped the boarder into Canada to escape the draft. In 1968, eight people burned 378 draft files in the Maryland draft board, fourteen people burned about 10,000 draft files in Milwaukee, and similar actions against draft files occurred around the country. The anti-war movement had aroused so much protest it ruined President Johnson's presidency to the point he announced he would not be seeking re-election.

Even after Johnson, the peace movement continued. President Nixon wanted to strike a "savage blow" in the fall of 1969 by mining Haiphong harbor or perhaps even using nuclear weapons, but he had to change his policies for political reasons because demonstrators and other protesters were so great in number. A rally on October 15 brought out about a quarter of a million people to protest the war, and one on November 15 brought out three quarters of a million people in Washington and another quarter of a million marched in San Francisco!

It would be easy to go on and on about all the anti-war protests, but readers should get the point. The War in Vietnam was so unpopular that public opinion forced politicians to change their strategy and eventually pull out. The lesson was that the American public can influence military policy, that Americans have the right to challenge the government's right to have war. The question now is how does this relate to the current war in Iraq? The public majority initially supported going into Iraq and thus American soldiers are now there. If public opinion had been greatly against the war American soldiers probably wouldn't have made the full scale invasion. What could or would have happened is the past now. What should be focused on now is what happens. Many Americans say that while they may not support the war in Iraq, they do support the soldiers and what they can now do. Popular opinion can determine how the US lead occupation of Iraq will play out. Politicians who want to keep their jobs and remain popular in the public eye will be swayed by what the people want. This raises another question now. How do the people determine what they want? Most want the young men and women in