US in Iraq : reliving the Vietnam syndrome?

Abstract

The war in Iraq today is a major conflict, characterized by high American fatalities, rising costs and a struggle that has no end in sight. Into its fourth anniversary in March 2007, America is assessing what would be the next best course of action. While constructive proposals have been raised and ideas thrown, this paper postulates that Iraq is doomed to fail and America would be forced to withdraw, just like how the Vietnam War was concluded in 1975. Anchoring the thesis from a counterinsurgency perspective, the paper reveals a fundamental strategic mistake that America made in the post-Vietnam era, which was to ignore the primacy of irregular wars in global conflict.