Vietnam Vs Iraq Essay

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Vietnam vs. Iraq How do they compare? By Troy Schumacher History 102 Professor Barney Slowey The United States involvement in Vietnam began in 1950 while Harry Truman was acting president. This war lasted five administrations while Gerald Ford was president in 1975. This seems like a long time compared to the war in Iraq, but if we think about how long the US has been, involved these two wars are not so different. Let us look at some of the facts and then we can decide for ourselves. In 1965, American forces were about 27,000 and by the end of that same year, the number rose to 200,000. By the end of 1969, the American troops in Vietnam had exceeded 500,000. By the end of the war, almost 58,000 Americans died and over 153,000 were…show more content…
Comparing the numbers of troops there are some similarities. In 1991 during the Gulf War, 500,000 allied troops stood against the Iraqi forces. However, the casualties during the engagement were 149 allied soldiers killed and approximately 500 injured. Though there was a cease-fire until 2003, the US has been involved in Iraq. In 2003, the start of the recent outbreak American troops has increased to 150,000 and by 2005 had increased to 175,000. Though there are not any clear reports to the exact number deployed today, I would have to guess it to be around 150-180 thousand. Because of the difference in technology during Vietnam and the Iraq war the casualties is considerably lower, approximately 3378 deaths and a little over 25,000 wounded. Even though the numbers are less in deaths and wounded, the polls taken supporting the two wars are very similar. The Vietnam War had support in the beginning, but by 1967, protest grew strong. This is almost a mirrored image of the war that started in 1991 against Iraq during the gulf war when the American people supported this fight; however today more and more protest grow wanting to pull all American troops out of Iraq. With the little bit of information gathered here I would have to guess that these two wars are being fought by the wrong
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