As he patrols the city of Ghazni (southwest of Kabul), Afghanistan on Thursday, August 12, 2021, a Taliban fighter poses for photos. Gulabuddin Almiri/Associated PressThe Biden administration has rejected any comparisons to Vietnam and Afghanistan.A Medal of Honor recipient from Vietnam, however, said that the current situation is similar to Vietnam in 1975.The Taliban is making rapid gains and the US has to evacuate Kabul's embassy.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.Biden's administration repeatedly refuted the idea of comparing Afghanistan's rapidly deteriorating situation to the chaos that followed the Vietnam War in mid-1970s.Retired Army Colonel Jack Jacobs, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam for heroism, said Friday on MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports," that Afghanistan's current situation "looks exactly like Vietnam in 1975."Jacobs said, "And what the administration really wants to avoid is a repetition of 1979 when our people in Iran's embassy were captured.-Katy Tur Reports, @KatyOnMSNBC August 13, 2021In July, President Joe Biden stated that Afghanistan's situation was not like Vietnam."The Taliban are not... the North Vietnamese army. Biden stated that they are not comparable in terms capability. "There won't be any situation where people are lifted off the roofs of embassy buildings in the - of America from Afghanistan. It's not comparable."The Taliban is rapidly gaining ground in Afghanistan, and it seems that the Afghan military's defeat is on the horizon. As a result, the US has begun to evacuate all personnel from its Embassy in Kabul. To assist with this process, the US has sent in approximately 3,000 more troops.Many Americans will forever remember the 1975 incident in which people were evacuated by helicopter from the US Embassy in Saigon. This was a humiliating moment for America in modern history. This imagery has been criticized by critics of Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan.Continue the storyThe helicopter zone at the US Embassy in Saigon (Vietnam), on April 29, 1975. It shows last-minute evacuations of authorized personnel and civilians. APSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that the Taliban was on track for a major military victory if President Biden does not change course quickly. "The latest news about a further drawdown at the Embassy and a hasty deployment military forces seems like preparations to fall on Kabul." We are heading towards an even worse sequel of 1975's humiliating fall in Saigon.Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues its cold watering of Vietnam parallels.When asked by John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, about the similarities between the chaos in Afghanistan and the fall Saigon, Kirby stated that they are not focused on Vietnam's history.Many continue to draw comparisons between these wars, which are widely seen as huge failures for America.Matt Zeller, a former CIA analyst said that "what we are facing is the optics of mass killing." "Everyone is talking to that helicopter in Saigon image, and that's what the Biden administration fears most. And through their own actions, they have created that moment."Caitlin Talmadge is an associate professor at Georgetown University's international service school. She tweeted that the events in Afghanistan are "purely military terms, MUCH MORE dramatic" than what was happening in Vietnam.Talmadge stated that the Taliban outperforms what the North Vietnamese army did. Let's not forget that the North Vietnamese army was an ARMORED, highly skilled force capable of complex, mixed arms operations. It was supported by a SUPERPOWER. These advantages are not available to the Taliban, which is formidable.Biden said Tuesday that he did not regret giving the order for troops to be withdrawn and ending the longest conflict in American history."Look, over a trillion dollars were spent in 20 years. Biden stated that we equipped over 300,000. Afghan troops with modern equipment and trained them. "Afghan leaders must come together. We lost thousands, many Americans were injured or killed. They have to stand up for themselves and fight for their country.Business Insider has the original article.
