Vietnam still casts shadow over U.S. foreign policy, Kalb says

From the fall of Saigon in 1975 right up to President Barack Obama’s decision to send U.S. troops to attack ISIS, the Vietnam War has hovered over American foreign and defense policy, legendary CBS foreign correspondent Marvin Kalb told a Club event Nov. 20.

Kalb, who usually questions guests during the "Kalb Report,” was the subject himself as he fielded inquiries from NPC American Legion Post 20 Commander Ken Dalecki and the History and Heritage Committee Chair Gil Klein at the co-sponsored event. Kalb covered the war for CBS News and has written two books about its impact. The American Legion is marking the 50th anniversary of the conflict.

In decision after decision, subsequent presidents have weighed the lessons of Vietnam to decide whether to commit military power and how to do it, Kalb said.

For example:

--Just after the fall of Saigon, President Gerald Ford overreacted to a minor challenge by the communist government in Cambodia to rescue the crew of the SS Mayaquez from their Khmer Rouge captives to prove that the United States had not lost its willingness to exercise power.

--President Jimmy Carter wanted nothing to do with using military power, Kalb said.

--President Ronald Reagan withdrew American forces from Lebanon in 1983 after 241 American servicemen were killed in a Beirut barracks bombing to avoid a long entanglement.

--President George H.W. Bush sent an overwhelming force to oust Iraqi invaders from Kuwait quickly yet refused to push that force into Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein to avoid a prolonged Vietnam-like conflict. And he said he could not understand why President George W. Bush did not follow his father’s example before launching an invasion of Iraq in 2003.

--As recently as this year Obama has been conflicted about the use of force in the Middle East to combat ISIS because of the Vietnam legacy.

Vietnam also has hung over presidential politics well into the 21st century as Republicans and Democrats have fought over the roles that John Kerry, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney played during that period, Kalb said. While Kerry was a decorated Vietnam War veteran, both Bush and Cheney were able to avoid serving in the conflict.