Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome: the USA in
the Middle East 1958-2009
But first the news (and some new online
course materials):
- Obama
Confronts a Choice on Copters,
NYT Feb. 16,
2009
- Pakistan
Agrees to Islamic Law in Swat Region,
NYT Feb. 16,
2009
- Swat:
Pakistan's lost paradise,
Al-Jazeera,
Feb 16, 2009
- U.S.
Envoy Reaches Out to Iran in Afghan Visit, NYT Feb. 16, 2009
- Barak
tells IDF: Iran nukes are an existential threat to
Israel, Haaretz, Feb. 16,
2009
- Netanyahu:
Palestinians should have sovereignty, but not at our
expense,
Haaretz, Feb. 16, 2009
- Darfur
rivals set to sign Doha deal,
Al-Jazeera,
Feb 16, 2009
-
Two years ago and
earlier:
-
- After Lebanon 1958 - Further US
Military Entanglements
- Remember Eisenhower's Farewell
Address (Jan. 17, 1961)
- Our military organization today bears little
relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or
indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
- Until the latest of our world conflicts, the
United States had no armaments industry. American makers of
plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well.
But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national
defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments
industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half
million men and women are directly engaged in the defense
establishment. We annually spend on military security more than
the net income of all United States corporations.
- This conjunction of an immense military
establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American
experience. The total influence – economic, political, even
spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office
of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for
this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave
implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved;
so is the very structure of our society.
- In the councils of government, we must guard
against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought
or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for
the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
- We must never let the weight of this
combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We
should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable
citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and
military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals,
so that security and liberty may prosper together.
- US arms sales
- US military interventions - "From the Halls of
Montenzuma to the Shores
of Tripoli"(1803) - when we first it
Libya.
- 1942 Allied landings in North Africa -
Eisenhower in Algiers
- Kennedy: token USAF squadron to Saudi Arabia
in July 1963
- Beirut July 1958 - "Operation Blue Blat" with
14,000 US marines.
- USS Liberty
attacked off Sinai during June 1967 War.
- Defense
Readiness Condition=DEFCON-3 Alert of USA vs USSR Oct. 25,
1973 - when Israel did not cease
encircling the Egyptian Third Army in the Sinai during the Yom
Kippur/Ramadan/October 1973 War, and USSR threatened military
intervention.
- "Operation Eagle Claw" (April 1980) sand storm
- the abortive effort to rescue US Embassy hostages in Tehran.
- Beirut 1982-84 (about 1200 US marines)
- Libya 1981, 1986 Operation El Dorado
Canyon
- Reflagging Kuwaiti tankers (First Gulf War
1980-88)
- Kuwait again: Desert Shield August 1990 to
Desert Storm Jan-Feb 1991 - "We kicked the Vietnam syndrome."
- Dual containment of Iran and Iraq
(1992-2001)
- Post 911:
A look at the Pentagon: Video
2 of the Power Game
This video was mainly concerned with the politics of weapons
development and how the arms industry contractors work with key
congressional committees and the Pentagon in an "iron triangle" that
commands huge amounts of money. Remember the "home porking" discussed
in the video? The iron triangle is opposed by a "dissident triangle"
consisting of some members of Congress, "moles" within the Pentagon,
and the media. One legacy of Vietnam and a more activist Congress is
the Arms
Export Control Act of 1976, whereby the
two houses of Congress may exercise a "legislative veto" over sales
of arms in excess of $25 million to a foreign country.
Try to check out the list of congressional cttees
relevant to foreign policy and definitely include the Senate's Armed Services Committee, which includes a number of high
profile senators such as John McCain, who does not serve on the
Foreign Relations Committee but who is an important player in US
foreign policy. And don't forget the House
of Representative's Committee on Armed
Services. You may want to check out some of these people and see how
they stand on the policy issue or set of issues you are
studying.
You should also take a look at the Department of
Defense website where you may look into the organization of this vast bureaucracy. It is of course no longer
headed by Donald Rumsfeld, and his deputy Paul
Wolfowitz, who was the principal advocate
of the invasion of Iraq, headed the World Bank from 2005 to June 2007
when he was obliged to resign. William Gates, who took over from
Rumsfeld, continues to serve as Defense Secretary under the Obama
Administration.
-
Main
page
Feb 17, 2009
Department
of Government, College
of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at
Austin.
- Questions, Comments, and Suggestions to
chenry@mail.utexas.edu