Vietnam's Counter-Insurgency Lessons Are Being Forgotten In Afghanistan

Steven Greimann, a senior civilian representative with the U.S. Agency for International Development, snaps a photo of a deep well in a tobacco field during Operation Southern Strike III in the Spin Boldak district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Sept. 6, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Mackie

Viewpoint: Counter-Insurgency Lessons From Vietnam -- David Donovan, BBC

The rise in so-called insider attacks by rogue Afghan security forces has highlighted the perils of joint operations in counter-insurgency. But former US soldier David Donovan, who fought in Vietnam, says lessons learnt long ago have been forgotten.

If you could feel the heat and sweat of the tropics. If you could hear the noise of battle and sense the fears.

If you could put yourself on the other side of the world where you are the selectee of your government to advise and help a unit of foreign fighters defend their village.

And if you and that unit are at this moment in combat but they are being slow to react, you might come close to understanding how I felt one day in 1969 in the Mekong delta of Vietnam.

The enemy were in a nearby tree-line. They had taken us under fire, and bullets were cutting leaves from the trees.

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My Comment: Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it .... and if David Donovan's analysis is correct .... we are repeating them in Afghanistan.