Blog #12 - Pick one of the 2 questions -

Pick one of the following questions below:

All week we have been talking about comparisons between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. One of the issues has been about chemical weapons:

1. Agent Orange was used to destroy the foliage of Vietnam - 30% of the country - an area about the size of Massachusetts. Also, napalm was used to destroy and burn down the same jungles made almost 3 million Vietnamese refugees. AO caused cancer in American veterans and Vietnamese civilians as well as birth defects in their children.

- So my question for you (if you choose this one) is: is the use of chemical weapons ever appropriate? Does it depend on what kind and why they're used? Why?

2. The draft was used during the Civil War, WW1, WW2 and all the way through Vietnam. When enough volunteers weren't found, the government had to come through with a draft. Since the Iraq War began in 2003, a couple of Congressmen wrote a bill calling for an equitable draft that would eliminate many of the Vietnam-era inequalities (college, medical, deferments, Canada, National Guard, etc.) and included men and women.

- Question - Would you fight in the Iraq War if you were drafted? Why or why not? Are there any conditions under which you would / wouldn't fight if drafted? Explain .

200 words minimum. Due Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

How would things have been different if we hadn't gone to Vietnam?

The Vietnam War caused a lot of trouble to America. We lost many lives not only fighting in Vietnam but also in protests back home for example the protest at Kent University. In this war chemicals were used and such as Agent Orange. As a result to exposure to Agent Orange many people came back with health problems. People became suspicious of the government. The government lied to the public about what was happening in Vietnam. News reporters were daily contradicting what the government told American about the war.

If we wouldn’t have entered this war, would we not have had these problems? Since we didn’t achieve or win the war, was it even worth entering in the first place? Would the outcome be any different (Communism taking over the entire country) if the United States hadn’t been there?

Allison