In the Last Days of Afghanistan, Too Many Shadows of Vietnam

By Robert A. Newson 

December 17, 2014

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A shadow cast by a U.S. soldier from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment shades spent brass strewn on the ground during a joint training mission, near forward operating base Gamberi in the Laghman province of Afghanistan December 12, 2014. (Lucas Jackson/Courtesy Reuters) 

Recently, the Council on Foreign Relations hosted a screening of Rory Kennedy’s film Last Days in Vietnam. The stunning documentary, with never-before seen-footage, tells the story of courageous Americans at the U.S. embassy and on ships at sea who put their lives and their careers on the line to rescue 77,000 South Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon. These heroes did all they could as individuals to meet an American obligation to those who stand with us in our foreign wars—those who risk their lives and the lives of their families against a common enemy. The film also tells the story of an American government that came very slow and far too late to uphold this obligation. 

This film was especially poignant for me. My father was a naval supply officer aboard the USS Princeton, LPH 4, in the Vietnam War. He was off the coast of Vietnam in 1965 when I was born. During four tours to Vietnam he issued combat equipment to young Marines disembarking to fight and he stacked their lifeless bodies to the ceiling in cold storage when they were returned to the ship after they fell in combat. After twenty years of service he retired in 1975, mere months after the fall of Saigon. During this film, and not for the first time, I wondered what it must have been like for Vietnam veterans. There are similarities and differences—both are important—between Vietnam and our current fights in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Unlike in Vietnam, service members today have the admiration and support of the American people. Whenever we are in uniform we are greeted with heartfelt thanks by citizens of a grateful nation. Vietnam veterans were not so fortunate. Regardless of politic persuasion, historical interpretation, or eventual outcome, it should be recognized that Vietnam veterans served and suffered at the behest of our nation. The thirteen-year commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, from May 28, 2012 to November 11, 2025, provides an extended opportunity to recognize their service. 

Unlike Vietnam, whenever we leave the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan the fight will not be over. While some comment on “endless war” as if accepting or declining this fight is our unilateral decision, they ignore the fact that the enemy gets a vote. Islamic extremist declared war on the United States in 1996 and attacked two U.S. Embassies and the USS Cole long before 9/11 pressed the fight to our shores. Jihadi ideology will remain on the march even after we depart the current battlefields. Jihadis will remain at war until their bankrupt and misguided philosophy is globally exposed and widely accepted as a self-destructive aberration. 

We can choose how we fight, either with a broad society-wide swarm against radicalism by everyone—governments, non-state actors, and individuals—or more narrowly and far less effectively with a primarily military approach. However, unlike Vietnam we cannot chose for it to be over. The enemy is still fighting and they are will bring the fight to us. Hopefully, unlike Vietnam we have the opportunity to be more adaptive and effective in the future. 

There are also similarities between the Vietnam War and our current engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the post-screening conversation Rory Kennedy, director and producer of Last Days in Vietnam, stressed that current relevance was part of her motivation for making the film. 

Like Vietnam, we have seen heroic service and sacrifice by both military service members and civilians that achieved far less than we hoped. Our strategy and our policy have been, at times if not on the whole, slow to adapt, ineffective, or misaligned. Like Vietnam, the nation has grown weary of foreign battlefields and the vast expenditure of treasure and blood with so little apparent return. All of this should drive the American people to be more demanding of our policy, strategy, and leadership—not to abandon a fight that will continually be brought to our doorstep but to engage it with more subtly and dexterity, and to pursue it with more alignment with our values. 

Perhaps most strikingly similar to the last days of Vietnam, the U.S. has not done enough to live up to its obligation to those who fight beside us in our foreign wars—those who risk their lives and the lives of their families against a common enemy. Three separate programs authorize special immigrant visas (SIVs) for Iraqis and Afghanis who were employed by the U.S. government. However, the process is convoluted and under-resourced. Additionally, the numbers of authorized visas, less than 20,000, are insufficient. Roughly 130,000 Vietnam refuges were brought to the U.S. after the war under a robust Department of State program. The situation is getting better with congressional action extending the deadlinefor Afghan SIVs and the Department of State approval this year of more Afghan SIVs than in all of the prior years combined. 

However, to live up to our obligation to those who fought or are fighting by our side more must be done. Congress should pass comprehensive SIV legislation consolidating the three current programs, including both Afghanis and Iraqi partners; increasing the number of authorized visas; expanding the application window to a decade; and most importantly, fully fund its execution to insure rapid processing and resettlement. Additionally, new Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) legislation should place special emphasis of those who have fought with us overseas and provide them a special visa process to fast-track their accession into the U.S. military. 

Just as in Vietnam, keeping faith with our partners who risked their lives in our combined fight is a moral obligation. National self-interest will always drive a government’s behavior. But moral conduct, for so many reasons related both to our national character and the effect it has on our current and future partners, is in our self-interests. Doing the right thing has long-term positive impact. 

Captain Robert A. Newson is a Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) officer who recently led strategy and concept development for the Naval Special Warfare Command. Previously, he commanded Special Operations Command (Forward) in Yemen and NSW Support Activity, a cross-functional intelligence operations command, and served as director of the Joint Interagency Task Force—Counter Terrorism. Newson is a graduate of the University of Kansas and the Naval Postgraduate School (with distinction.) He is a PhD candidate at the University of San Diego. The conclusions and opinions expressed are his own and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. government.