In the 70s, Americans saw Ford as a president who had lost control of the levers—abroad and at home. That’s not the case for Biden yet.
Over the past week, as Taliban fighters shattered the brittle façade of Afghanistan’s armed forces, many commentators noted the unnerving similarity to 1975, when television viewers shuddered at images of frantic embassy personnel and their South Vietnamese allies climbing a ladder leading from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon to awaiting helicopters, while in the background, the steady rumble of enemy tanks grew heavier.
There are useful reminders in this obvious historic parallel — about the difficulty of nation building, the limits of western-style democracy and the hubris of foreign conquerors seeking to impose their values on a different culture. But the lessons only go so far. Under Nixon, American troop levels declined steadily, from over half a million in late 1968, to 475,000 in late 1969, to 334,600 by the close of 1970, 156,800 by the end of 1971, and a mere 24,200 in late 1972. By 1970, weekly U.S. combat deaths fell from their high of over 300 to 35.
If Nixon could somehow “link” trade and arms control agreements with Soviet cooperation in Vietnam, both sides stood to benefit. The problem, however, was that Moscow enjoyed limited influence with the North Vietnamese government, which skillfully played its Soviet and Chinese patrons against each other throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. Even if the Soviets wanted to be helpful — and on occasion, they did — they had few cards to play.
When Communist troops captured Hue and Danang weeks later, the Ford administration submitted an emergency request to Congress for $722 million in military aid, including an additional 440 tanks, 740 artillery pieces and 100,000 rifles. The response from Capitol Hill was chilly. “Is there any basis for your request except to maintain an appearance … when we know the end is inevitable,” Rep. Jamie Whitten, a hawkish Democrat from Mississippi, asked General Frederick Weyand.
If the subject matter changed after World War II, the tone and tenor remained the same. By 1958, one-quarter of all adult television programming fell under the “Western” category, with Native Americans replacing Nazis and Japanese kamikaze pilots as the enemy; the frontier replacing the beaches of Normandy and the Philippines as the staging ground for war and conquest; and steely-eyed sheriffs and stone-cold gunman standing in for the American serviceman.
While the fall of Saigon did not figure prominently in the 1976 presidential election — polling showed that 43 percent and 33 percent of voters cared about inflation and unemployment, respectively, but only 7 percent worried about “international problems” and “foreign relations” — it certainly did not help rehabilitate Ford’s reputation as a president who had lost control of events.might meet with the same fate as Ford. Like Ford, he oversaw a messy drawdown of a long war.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Opinion | Afghanistan Reveals All the President’s WeaknessesFrom WSJopinion: Jimmy Carter’s name remains a synonym for weakness. For Biden and his team the analogies to Jimmy Carter and the Iranian hostage crisis might be even more unsettling than the parallels to the fall of Saigon, writes wjmcgurn
Weiterlesen »
Afghanistan's collapse: Did US intelligence get it wrong?'[U.S.] leaders were told by the military it would take no time at all for the Taliban to take everything,' an anonymous U.S. intelligence official told ABC News. 'No one listened.'
Weiterlesen »
‘Clearly botched’: Biden White House under assault on Afghanistan drawdownChaos and confusion dominated Biden's first major foreign policy decision — the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan
Weiterlesen »
America may pay dearly for defeat in AfghanistanBy August 14th Joe Biden was reduced to trying to shift some blame to Donald Trump. “When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor,” he said
Weiterlesen »
'I stand squarely behind my decision': Biden defends handling of Afghanistan as Taliban seizes KabulPresident Joe Biden has faced calls to speak publicly about his handling of Afghanistan.
Weiterlesen »
Biden stands 'squarely behind' Afghanistan withdrawalUS President Joe Biden says he will not repeat mistakes of the past, while he admits that the Afghan government's collapse was quicker than anticipated as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates quickly.
Weiterlesen »