The 'Vietnam Syndrome' and the Gulf War Some weeks ago we discussed Robert D. Heinl's article, "The Collapse of the Armed Forces," and I spent some time discussing the Vietnam War with you as an example of a war which, in my view, cannot be understood unless one takes into account class contradictions within American society. In other words, and like the Vietnam War, it cannot be understood from the perspective of "we", when "we" is understood to be "the United States". Conflicting interests are at work. The Gulf War - like Vietnam? In the famous July 1990 conference between U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, the U.S. Ambassador, speaking for the Administration of President George Bush, gave the "green light" to Hussein to settle his differences with Kuwait amongst themselves. She also hinted that a "lower price for oil" was NOT what the US government (the Bush Administration, remember) wanted at all! This is a fascinating topic. I have put the whole transcript of this Glaspie-Hussein conference, straight from the New York Times, on the web here. I've also discovered a pretty good web page on this issue. It is "Operation Desert Storm: Outright Disinformation Scheme". Please read BOTH pages carefully, including the selections from the transcript. After studying them carefully, please write an analysis of 300 words. Don't talk about whether you "believe" or "do not believe" this; that's not analysis. Instead, please discuss * the issue of the class contradictions within the US: Whom does American foreign policy benefit, and whom does it hurt? * in the case of Vietnam? * in the case of the Gulf War? * reread the Butler piece which you have also read (you may go to it here. Butler also discusses class contraditions -- American foreign policy as serving the rich but not the majority. How similar is the situation Butler describes to the Vietnam or Gulf Wars? Please email your 300 word analysis to your group, and to me.