Gradual Escalation: A Vietnam Shadow Falls on Obama's Iraq

[Valin]

Townhall:

Austin Bay

May 11, 2016

 

The emerging policy shaping the Obama Administration's slow war against ISIS stirs very bad memories for the U.S. military -- Vietnam memories.

 

That policy is "gradual escalation." The Obama Administration does not use the term, but that is what we witness.

 

Gradual escalation proved to be the strategic curse of the Johnson Administration, an error in judgment that, at the time in late 1964, looked so reasonable -- and convenient -- to President Lyndon Baines Johnson. He envisioned leaving America with a transformative legacy, a victory in The War on Poverty.

 

(Snip)

 

With every passing week, the Pentagon announces -- sotto voce -- a troop increase in Iraq. We also learn, indirectly, that more U.S. military personnel are operating in Syria. Syrian deployments consist of special operations troops (likely U.S. Army Green Berets) acting as advisers in "limited roles."

 

It is very difficult to determine the exact number of U.S. combat troops currently in Iraq. Yes, I wrote that correctly, combat troops. The Pentagon says around 3,600. But in February, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq admitted "it's fair to say" on a daily basis the number exceeded 4,000.

 

I'll wager it's over 5,000, on a 24/7 basis, given the operations involved.

 

(Snip)

 

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Glad to see I'm not the only one to see this and make the connection to Vietnam. History doesn't repeat itself...but it does rhyme.