It all failed. It took seven years from the Tet uprising, but the combination of rebellion in the West, rebellion in the US army, and the struggle of the nationalists in Vietnam saw the National Liberation Front capture Saigon in April 1975.
The defeat of US imperialism in Vietnam was a step forwards for humanity, not because the new rulers of Vietnam were in any way socialist, or whatever nonsense they proclaimed, but because the imperialist beast lay in its lair for a decade, unable to venture outside to attack other countries.
The legacy of Vietnam continues.
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The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were aimed at convincing possible imperialist competitors like China and Europe and any uppity non co-operative regimes like Iran that, although US economic power was declining, the US ruling elite was prepared to use military force to retain its number one position in the world.
Yet even now, the beast moves slowly from its old war wounds. The US ruling class only dared contribute about 165,000 troops to Iraq (and that includes the increased numbers from the failed surge strategy). It feared military defeat. It feared enlivening the anti-war movement if a large number of body bags began to flow back to the US. (The current leadership learned one lesson from Vietnam - they have controlled the media tightly so that even the images of the dead are censored.)
Afghanistan is another Vietnam. It took ten years for the Afghanis to drive the Russians out. They will do the same to the Americans. The Taliban again has popular support thanks to the brutality of the US occupation. What makes the Bush think he can successfully prop up a regime whose remit is to parts of Kabul at best? Again, the US is frightened to commit more troops, fearing both escalating the resistance and provoking a backlash at home. Tet lives.
And what is Australia's role? Moving troops from the safety of Iraq to the more perilous situation in Afghanistan is madness. We should be in neither country.
The “HowRuddistas” want to continue to be the imperialist power in "our" region. Strategically for the Rudd imperialists this means the continuation of the US Alliance, enabling Australia to operate in the South Pacific and South-East Asia under the protection of America. For this reason Rudd will sacrifice a few thousand troops to Afghanistan.
A defeat for the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan will, like Vietnam, be a step forward for humanity. For the US there will be more and more Tets, not just politically but, as Iraq and Afghanistan show, militarily as well.
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