Vietnam and Afghanistan – Shared Failure
by Joe Swiecki
|
08.12.2025 at 06:00am
Abstract: As conflict looms throughout the world, the United States must again learn lessons from its failed conflicts in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Both conflicts featured blurry battle lines, nebulous objectives, undefinable victories, and inhospitable terrain that nullified the U.S. airpower and physically punished its ground forces. For a Presidential administration deciding if or when to intervene in a foreign country, the failures of Vietnam and Afghanistan should be a crucial influence in whatever foreign policy decision the administration makes.
Introduction
As a possible conflict in the Middle East looms, it is a prescient time to look back at America’s two longest wars and the lessons learned in blood. In the almost fifty years since the fall of South Vietnam and five years since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, it has become clear that the outcomes of both conflicts had one comparable result: failure. But what lessons can be learned from the parallels and differences in the two conflicts, and can those lessons give policymakers a greater understanding of future challenges? To compare America’s two longest wars and create lessons learned, this article will look at four variables: policy objectives, popular support, tactics and terrain, and government partners. The comparisons between the conflicts are not limited to these variables, but this article will restrict the scope of the analysis to these four critical topics.
Policy Objectives
In both Afghanistan and Vietnam there appeared to be a slow descent rather than a deliberate commitment to full-scale intervention. This failure to initially develop clear, accurate strategic goals and tangible steps to achieve those goals hamstrung efforts in both countries.
After the shocking events of 9/11, the United States and its coalition partners invaded Afghanistan to defeat Al-Qaeda and deny terrorists a safe haven to plan further attacks against the United States and its allies. This remained a key aim of the conflict, but over nineteen years other objectives took precedence. As the conflict stretched, nation-building became the primary objective, namely providing security to the population, assisting the government, and funding development projects. In 2011, then Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A), General Stanley McChrystal claimed the new strategy was analogous to nation-building with 95% of the coalition effort focused on supporting the population and 5% on targeting insurgents. This mission creep, combined with an undefined end-state frustrated multiple presidential administrations and stretched the conflict out while never accomplishing the original, primary mission: denying terrorists a safe haven.
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/08/12/vietnam-and-afghanistan-shared-failure/
