Posted on Aug 21, 2021
A Saigon Refugee Draws Parallels Between The Fall Of Her Home City And Kabul
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The early images of the fall of Kabul looked eerily similar to Saigon in 1975.
Saigon, the then-South Vietnamese capital, fell to the communist government of North Vietnam 46 years ago. The collapse came two years after its ally the United States withdrew troops, marking the end of the Vietnam War. Kabul, the Afghan capital, on the other hand, fell to the Taliban in the middle of U.S. troops withdrawing after 20 years of war sparked by 9/11.
Saigon, the then-South Vietnamese capital, fell to the communist government of North Vietnam 46 years ago. The collapse came two years after its ally the United States withdrew troops, marking the end of the Vietnam War. Kabul, the Afghan capital, on the other hand, fell to the Taliban in the middle of U.S. troops withdrawing after 20 years of war sparked by 9/11.
A Saigon Refugee Draws Parallels Between The Fall Of Her Home City And Kabul
Posted from wbur.org
Vietnam War
Kabul
9/11
Taliban
Posted >1 y ago
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In both cases the US government had failed to keep any promises of support but in this case, unlike Vietnam not falling to a rival Government but to outright extremist Terrorist. Its apparent the bad memories it brings back to some of My Vietnamese friends the parallel. As a Vietnam Veteran Myself it effects My emotions and thinking of the poor support and broken promises to the people in both places by the US Government plus the many American Service members that died in both places.
The British and the French are also there to rescue their people but are going to homes to bring people out safely. The current US approach by the Biden Administration isn't doing that and many aren't making it to the airport. A this point also neither United Kingdom or France are very happy with the decisions and how to perform this task by the United States. This has also made massive problems for them on saving their own citizens and those that helped them.
The British and the French are also there to rescue their people but are going to homes to bring people out safely. The current US approach by the Biden Administration isn't doing that and many aren't making it to the airport. A this point also neither United Kingdom or France are very happy with the decisions and how to perform this task by the United States. This has also made massive problems for them on saving their own citizens and those that helped them.
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There are certainly some similarities, but there are also some glaring differences.
The most obvious difference - one that I'm sure many veterans will focus on - is that the South Vietnamese forces fought for two years (which was longer than most of us expected) with many units fighting valiantly even when they knew there was no chance of victory. The battle of Xuan Loc can only be described as heroic and worthy of mention in the same breath as such actions as the stand of the Swiss Guard in 1527 or the Spartans at Thermopylae in 480BC. The Afghan National Army mostly just disappeared. The closest that the Afghan military have to heros are the pilots who accidentally saved their aircraft from falling to the Taliban when they used those aircraft to flee rather than fight.
On the other hand, another difference was that our withdrawal from Vietnam was a carefully planned gradual withdrawal, fully coordinated with both the RVN government and our allies. We did not simply disappear overnight without telling anyone.
And, of course, our withdrawal was not immediately followed by our Commander in Chief blatantly lying to the American public about the intelligence forecasts.
The most obvious difference - one that I'm sure many veterans will focus on - is that the South Vietnamese forces fought for two years (which was longer than most of us expected) with many units fighting valiantly even when they knew there was no chance of victory. The battle of Xuan Loc can only be described as heroic and worthy of mention in the same breath as such actions as the stand of the Swiss Guard in 1527 or the Spartans at Thermopylae in 480BC. The Afghan National Army mostly just disappeared. The closest that the Afghan military have to heros are the pilots who accidentally saved their aircraft from falling to the Taliban when they used those aircraft to flee rather than fight.
On the other hand, another difference was that our withdrawal from Vietnam was a carefully planned gradual withdrawal, fully coordinated with both the RVN government and our allies. We did not simply disappear overnight without telling anyone.
And, of course, our withdrawal was not immediately followed by our Commander in Chief blatantly lying to the American public about the intelligence forecasts.
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