HISTORY 2124 - Vietnam and Iraq:Wars of Mass Deception

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Human Rights Since World War II, the United States has fought two controversial and widely unpopular wars: Vietnam and the 2003 war in Iraq. Both wars began with presidential deception (the Gulf of Tonkin and WMDs) to justify a crusade against a global enemy-communism, and then terrorism. In both wars, U.S. forces became bogged down in battles against an elusive enemy and inflicted serious casualties on the civilians whose hearts and minds would ultimately determine the outcome. My Lai and Abu Ghraib brought into doubt the legitimacy of each war. And both wars generated a split in domestic public opinion between the desire to "support our troops" and the sense that the war was both ill-advised and unwinnable. The primary focus here is on Vietnam; a secondary concern is to determine if that war offers lessons that can help us understand the war in Iraq.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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