comparing presidents | SAGE Society Blog

Will Afghanistan Be to Barack Obama What Vietnam Was to Lyndon Johnson?

Posted on April 30, 2009. Filed under: Senior Study Discussion Groups | Tags: Afghanistan and Vietnam, Barack Obama, comparing presidents, guerrilla warfare, Lyndon Johnson, United States foreign policy |

• Both presidents were elected by substantial margins largely on the strength of their domestic agendas
• At their swearing-ins, both presidents inherited on-going conflicts
• Both made early decisions to send additional troops into the conflicts
• Both conflicts were/are guerrilla-type wars involving cultures alien to the west
• Vietnam and Afghanistan had/have long histories of defeating invaders of their lands

Questions:
1. What should be Obama’s policy in Afghanistan?
2. Following Johnson, Nixon said, “I’m not going to be the first American president to lose a war.” Could that kind of thinking play a part in Obama’s policy?
3. How could Obama pull out of Afghanistan without damaging America’s “leadership” role?
4. Do you think that Islamic fanaticism can be overcome? How?