|
Vietnam... oh so touchy a subject and oh so misunderstood.
In a sense tho Iraq and Vietnam are the same.. not because of the fighting but put it this way..
Vietnamese have had a tradition of Confucianism - in Confucianism there is only one absolute truth.
Take American democracy for example - we can see two sides of the truth, and even more. We are a very pluralistic country where we can coexist with different view points.
In many parts of the world? Thats not true - there is only one truth and thats it.
Thats a large part of why when South Vietnam was transformed to the American model of democracy that it failed - Diem became a dictator albeit anti-communist, but still a dictator. The different sects and factions in Vietnam made democracy impossible there and eventually North Vietnam's emphasis on nationalism won over.
In Iraq? The Shiite/Sunii conflict is a tough one to gauge now but without a doubt one must realize that one cannot put American democracy everywhere.
This is where i say the similarity between Iraq and Vietnam lays - not the fighting, not the length, etc. - its the 'nation building' we are trying.
|