Fighting the Last War 2
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, writing as a private citizen, considers the current situation in Afghanistan and sees parallels between the legacy of General Patraeus and that of another legendary general from a war long gone.
It’s worth noting that when Gen. William Westmoreland told Congress how well the Vietnam War was going in April 1967, he was hailed as a hero and interrupted by applause 19 times. But years later, when an honest evaluation of his performance was made and the truth was laid bare, his name became a byword for military failure.
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November 20, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Afghanistanization I called it, after Vietnamization. In a broad sense, the strategy is the same. Train the Afghan army to take up the fight. It’s obvious it’ll fold as soon as we leave since it and central government are unpopular and corrupt, just as in Vietnam. Indeed, it would have always been this way. Westmoreland finally had to be cashiered after Tet, replaced with Abrams who was a place holder. This ties in with your post a week or so ago, one I agree with. The US has had lousy generals for decades and it’s part of the system. They don’t actually -have- to be any good.
November 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I thnk the hero worship is starting to fade, everywhere but in the village at least. There’s more and more like this surfacing on the web.