Journalist sees common ground with Vietnam, Iraq
With ever-growing public opposition to the war in Iraq, famed former Associated Press special correspondent and Uniontown native Dr. George Esper said the conflict is increasingly reminding him of the Vietnam War. Although Esper said Vietnam was fought on a much larger scale, the lack of exit strategy for Iraq sounds similar to what the country was hearing from its government more than three decades ago.
Esper spent 10 years covering Vietnam for the AP, and said much like that war, the Iraq conflict is a matter that should be handled inside its own borders. “I think Iraq is a civil war,” Esper said, drawing a parallel between Iraq and Vietnam. “The Iraqis and Vietnamese both want(ed) Americans out of their country. What else could you call it?”
While Esper explained Vietnam was fought on a much larger scale with more than a half-million U.S. troops compared to 200,000 troops in Iraq, he said, “One casualty is too many.” Esper spoke during the taping of an episode of “Behind the Headlines” that will be aired on HSTV at a later date.
“I think right now the administration is losing public support of the Iraq war … there is no end in sight and no clear-cut strategy to end the war. That happened in Vietnam,” Esper said. He continued to explain that eventually Congress cut aid to South Vietnam and the U.S. signed a peace accord with North Vietnam to end the war, although it wasn’t really a peace agreement, Esper said.
Esper said if the Democrats take control of Congress and/or the House of Representatives, they might cut funds to the war, set a timetable to pull out and end it. He said the underlying problem is that the government is trying to find a military solution to something that needs a diplomatic solution.
Esper said he believes there have been many miscalculations in Iraq by our government, including thinking the Americans would be “greeted with flowers” and the dismissal of the Iraqi Army.
Esper said another reason he believes the American public is getting “fed up” with the war is the increasing number of untrue statements that keep getting recycled. “The American public is impatient. They don’t want a long war and casualties,” Esper said.
Another similarity between the Vietnam and Iraqi wars, Esper said, is the way the veterans have been treated. He said it was a disgrace the way Vietnam veterans were treated and he doesn’t think the Iraqi veterans have been treated well in terms of benefits. “If you lose a leg, you deserve a lot of money,” Esper said. He said it is disgraceful that private individuals like media personality Don Imus had to raise money to build a site to treat veterans who were maimed in the war.
Esper said, like Vietnam, it is hard to gauge in Iraq what the mission is, although it has been touted as bringing democracy to the country. He called both wars disasters. “It’s heart-wrenching to see these young men and women being killed there,” Esper said.
Esper said he has visited Vietnam in recent years, and there is still a divide between the South and North Vietnamese people. He said all young people in the country want to come to the United States because of the opportunities.
Regarding U.S. Rep. John Murtha’s stance against the war although he initially supported it, Esper said Murtha hit it right on the mark, comparing him to U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy of the Vietnam era because Kennedy was against the Vietnam War from the beginning.
Esper said he believes if the United State withdraws from Iraq, the Middle East will take care of itself. “War creates more war,” he said. Esper pointed out that a half-dozen generals are opposing the Iraqi strategy, adding that they should know the situation. Esper added that the press has been very accurate in coverage of the war. “We risk our lives to report factually,” Esper said.
Although the press was always blamed for losing Vietnam, Esper said the journalists were merely risking their lives to cover the news. “We didn’t take any sides. I think it was our finest hour, we kept the faith and were more honest than our own government,” Esper said.
Esper retired from the AP after 42 years and now teaches journalism at West Virginia University.