I do not usually comment on current political events in these pages, but last week I received an email invitation to congratulate Barack Obama on his Nobel Peace Prize. As I have commented on an earlier Nobel Peace Prize (see my entry of 14 October 2007 "Should the IPCC receive the Nobel Peace Prize?") I feel justified to react publicly to this insult to my intelligence. I do that by comparing the timelines of the Vietnam War (a war that also sparked a Nobel Peace Prize) and of the war in Afghanistan. What is a Nobel Peace Prize worth if the wars intensify? Evidently the prize has lost all credibility and value (except its monetary value, of course).
The emphasis on Australia is for some local friends. How long should Australia wait before it withdraws its troops this time?
| 1961 | John F. Kennedy becomes president, 2,000 US troops in Vietnam | 2001 | George W. Bush becomes president, special forces are sent into Afghanistan after arial bombing campaign | ||
| 1963 | First coordinated protests in London and Australia | Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president, says that "the purpose in Vietnam is to prevent the success of aggression." | 2003 | 5,500 foreign troops in Afghanistan | |
| 1964 | Student marches in US cities | 16,500 US troops in Vietnam | |||
| 1965 | First large anti-war marches in the US, first sabotaging of military aircraft in Canada | The war is extended into Cambodia and Laos 200,000 US troops in Vietnam | 2005 | George W. Bush is re-elected president, declares that "the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq will be remembered as great turning points in the story of freedom." | |
| 1966 | Public opinion moves from support to rejection of the war | ||||
| 2008 | Public opinion in Europe and Australia moves from support to rejection of the war, first large anti-war demonstrations in Europe | ||||
| 1969 | Millions take a day off in the US to demonstrate against the war | Richard Nixon becomes president, promises "peace with honour" and an end to the war | 2009 | First news reports of protest demonstrations in Australia | Barack Obama becomes president, says that the previous administration "has overextended our military", sends an additional 15,000 troops, authorizes the bombing of targets in Pakistan, receives the Nobel Prize 100,500 foreign troops in Afghanistan (66,000 US, 34,500 NATO) |
| 1970 | First and only nationwide student strike in the US closes universities in protest against the war | US troops start incursions into Cambodia Kissinger pushes for intense bombing of Cambodia | 2010 | ??? | US may start incursions into Pakistan (?) US may raise foreign troop level to over 120,000 (?) |
| 1971 | More than 12,000 demonstrators arrested in Washington | Australia and New Zealand withdraw their troops | 2011 | ??? | ??? |
| 1973 | Kissinger receives the Nobel Prize US troops withdraw from Vietnam, the USA increase military aid | 2013 | ??? | ??? becomes president, promises to ??? | |
| 1974 | Gerald Ford becomes president, is forced to phase out aid by 1976 | 2014 | ??? | ??? | |
| 1975 | The fall of Saigon ends the war | 2015 | ??? | ??? | |
| Final cost: 3 - 4 million Vietnamese and 1.5 - 2 million Laotians and Cambodians killed, 58,159 US soldiers dead | Cost to date (October 2009): over 12,000 civilians killed (about 40% by anti-goverment forces, 60% by foreign troops), 1,435 foreign soldiers dead | ||||
