History of the Vietnam war for people with attention deficit disorder

[August]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Ultimately though, Vietnam should have been taken as a lesson and it should have been learnt. However I wonder if it was.

We thought so. Desert Storm for example was fought with the lessons of Vietnam very much in everyones mind.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by August

We thought so. Desert Storm for example was fought with the lessons of Vietnam very much in everyones mind.

Good point, and I guess some similarities between the two conflicts in terms of strategic events can be made. Certainly the US took absolutely no chances in preparation for Desert Storm, and then when it turned out to be quite the curb stomp it caught everyone by surprise, well in the brass anyway.
However, when it came around to Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, I wonder if a little of that lesson was lost. Desert Storm stopped on the Iraqi border...well...most of it did, but Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom are perhaps what would have happened if the US had invaded and occupied North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Militarily they would have won, no questions asked...but there would have been more soldiers killed in the aftermath than during the actual advance and secure.
Conducting a victorious war and successful occupation and rebuilding program (and I know using the term occupation is loaded but I can't quite think of the right term here, so consider it a placeholder) is hard, extremely hard, within the rules of engagement that western society has placed upon itself. We are constantly fighting with one hand behind our back, which is something our enemies never do...I often wonder how the Second World War would have turned out if the Western Allies had fought under the same restrictions we place on ourselves today. Bomber Command would have been grounded for most of the war, that's for certain, even after Coventry had been leveled. Still, I guess that the warm knowledge that we are socially superior makes up for the flag draped coffins...