Discreet War

The TV drama Law and Order claims its story ideas are ripped from the headlines.  Truth is that’s where I get many of my writing inspirations. Some headlines are truly stranger than fiction like one a week or so ago which reported “U. S special forces in discreet war.”  The Associated Press dispatch revealed that “American commandos are working discreetly in Yemen’s mountains to train that country’s military to fight al-Qaeda-linked extremists in a signature Obama administration effort to fight terrorism without inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment.”  Does this ring any bells for anyone old enough to remember the signature Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administration efforts to fight Communism by sending U. S. military “advisors” to Vietnam to, at first, bolster France’s hold on Indochina and then to train the South Vietnamese military? Discreet wars indeed. 

This is how they start, small, discreetly until they grow, maybe out-of-control. The recent Associated Press report went on to say that “the scope and amount of military training in Yemen have grown slowly, reflecting the Pentagon’s intention to tackle the terror threat while being mindful that a large American footprint in the conservative, Muslim country could actually fuel the insurgency, while also becoming financially unaffordable.”  Over the last year, the number of U.S. trainers moving in and out of Yemen has doubled from 25 to about 50 now.”  50 U. S. military trainers. Doesn’t sound like a big number does it?  

Bear with me and take a look back at history; it’s sometimes helpful.  In 1950 President Truman sent 123 non-combat troops to help with supplies for the French to fight against the communist Viet Minh.  In support of the French in 1954, President Eisenhower authorized 24 CIA pilots to operate US Air Force planes, flying undercover using French insignia, but maintained by the USAF. In 1955, President Eisenhower deployed the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to train the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army).  Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for American military advisors sent to assist in the training of conventional armed forces of Third World countries. This is said to mark the official beginning of American involvement in the war as recognized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Move ahead to May, 1961 when President Kennedy sent 400 United States Army Special Forces personnel to train South Vietnamese soldiers.   Then just seven months later, in October 1961, following successful NLF attacks, Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara recommended sending six divisions (200,000 men) to Vietnam.

            To me, the war in Iraq smacks of Vietnam.  The war in Afghanistan smacks of Vietnam. Will this latest “discreet war” in Yemen evolve and escalate into another smack in America’s face?

(For The Record, in composing this post I have referenced a Wikipedia article entitled “Role of the United States in the Vietnam War”)