June 19th, 2008 - In a recent History Channel documentary Tom Brokaw took the opportunity to compare the Vietnam War to the current conflict in Iraq. The documentary titled "1968 with Tom Brokaw" calls on Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers television series and John Stewart of Comedy Central's The Daily Show to talk about what's different from then to now. Both basically blame the media for not showing what's really going on in Iraq and imply that if people were to see the Iraq War portrayed on TV the way Vietnam was, people would be more incensed to oppose it.

Unfortunately for Tom, Tommy and John, there are truly few comparisons that can be drawn between Vietnam and the Iraq War to support their cause. First, Vietnam was an ugly war fought against and well supplied and organized army in the jungles. The Iraq War has become an exercise in urban combat against radical terrorist groups and tribal militias. If there is any similarity to be drawn between this war and Vietnam, the strongest would be the fact that as in Vietnam, politicians have been willing to use any failure to undermine our troops and their mission. The fact that once again people are willing to call for the immediate withdrawal of troops, regardless of the effect on the civilian population and general security in Iraq also seems to sound eerily familiar.

John Stewart claims that "we don't have any idea about what's going on, on the ground," in Iraq. I would suggest that perhaps he is right, but to the opposite degree that he would suggest. Everyday in the media people are being regularly told by politicians and talking

"1968 with Tom Brokaw" Tommy Smothers & John Stewart

heads that the Iraq war is in shambles and that we need to bring the troops home as soon as possible. The idea that we are failing in Iraq has become so popular that even past supporters of the war are regularly defecting. Of course these anti-war opinions are at odds with current casualty rates.

While during the Vietnam conflict an average of 12 U.S. servicemen lost their lives per day, the Iraq war has proven to have the lowest casualty rates in modern history at 2 deaths per day. I believe that this difference in casualties is a better indicator or why we don't see all the blood and guts that was televised during Vietnam. While there will always be those that like John Stewart that willingly cling to conspiracy theories in order to support their world view, I will rely on the truth about the overwhelming success of our troops as supported by the facts. Given a solid plan and the support of us and our representatives our troops are able to accomplish the most amazing things, with or without TV cameras there.

- Richard Okelberry, Managing Editor