OPINION
By Troy Turner
The comparisons of America’s messy military, economic and diplomatic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 to that of Vietnam almost 50 years earlier were plentiful as it occurred, but on one of those three fronts there exists stark contrast.
An economic ripple effect from post-war Vietnam after the mid-1970s came specifically to the state of Alabama.
Think, of all things: catfish.
Does Alabama have a direct economic impact from post-war Afghanistan?
No, except for – as with Ukraine’s war against Russia – extensive military studies for years to come at Alabama-based defense institutes such as the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery; and with the vast array of innovative high-tech military providers in Huntsville studying weaponry.
However, regarding Afghanistan beyond the lengthy war and chaotic withdrawal, the comparisons to Vietnam are few.
After the United States withdrew its military and most of its diplomatic corps from Vietnam, where thousands of Americans were killed and wounded, the post-war economic front saw numerous ties between the two nations renewed within the next few decades.
Furthermore, politically and militarily, the U.S. knew in the years after that it still needed to continue a strong presence in and near southeast Asia to match statesmanship with nearby China and Russia, so seeking a renewed relationship with the communist government in a reunified Vietnam was and remains a practical path to pursue, especially in the troubled South China Sea region.
Mutual economic benefits from new trade agreements thus became the best measure of establishing that new relationship.
And, from this renewed trade came influence from Vietnam directly to Alabama in ways many prideful citizens in the state never imagined. Especially given that the deep emotional scars of war in Vietnam still were not fully healed among Americans.
What red-blooded, sweet tea-drinking, true Southerner, for example, would ever believe that their favorite roadside, mom-and-pop local café would begin serving fried catfish that came from – yes – Vietnam?
It happened.
So much so that the influx of Vietnam-raised fish started a “catfish war” with Alabama fish producers after new trade agreements were signed in 2001.
On the flip side, however, the Vietnamese also were and remain good customers of exports from Alabama, including cotton, pork products, wheat, soybeans, eggs and fruit.
“The United States and Vietnam meet regularly on trade and investment issues…. which provides a platform for addressing bilateral issues, monitoring Vietnam’s implementation of its WTO (World Trade Organization) accession commitments, and coordinating on regional and multilateral issues,” a U.S. government trade report states.
“Vietnam is currently our 13th largest goods trading partner with $77.5 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2019,” the report said. “Goods exports totaled $10.9 billion; goods imports totaled $66.6 billion.”
Defense industry stays busy
Afghanistan, however, is not a catfish or seafood haven.
There are, in fact, few if any exports – of the legal variety – that Americans in general depend on from Afghanistan.
Alabama’s military and defense industries certainly played a role in Afghanistan, and that likely helped boost their profile before demand grew at a rapid pace with the Ukraine-Russia war.
Among the state’s defense industry and military interests:
**Innovations in rocket weaponry developed in Huntsville, Troy, Dothan, etc.
**Army helicopter combat and evacuation tactics reviewed at Fort Rucker near Enterprise and Dothan.
**Overall aviation strategy, command and control studied by the Air War College at Maxwell AFB.
**The use of and defense against unmanned aviation vehicles, or UAVs, developed by defense industries in Huntsville and used for communications, offensive and defensive warfare by all military branches.
**Cybersecurity’s far-reaching impact examined by leading entities such as the McCrary Institute at Auburn University.
**Emergency battlefield medical techniques and applications studied at prominent schools and trauma centers such as the University of Alabama in Birmingham, for use in domestic disasters or emergencies.
**Space and missile defense entities in Huntsville studying strategy using satellites and the integrated role of space in warfare.
All of these fields of interest have shifted focus to Ukraine, while Afghanistan for most of the American public now seems an afterthought. Certainly, the comparisons to Vietnam have waned.
Afghanistan has rare minerals of interest to the U.S., but not a wider variety of imports-exports that compare to commodities such as Vietnamese catfish on Alabama kitchen tables or Alabama cotton in Vietnamese textile factories.
A different kind of war
Within hours of the Taliban’s sudden takeover in August 2021, the Air War College at Maxwell AFB shared on its website an insightful analysis from Jason Miller, a PhD candidate in foreign policy at Liberty University.
Miller asks, what does the fall of Afghanistan mean for the failed nation, U.S. foreign policy and regional stability?
“For Afghans, the change is irrelevant to their meager daily existence,” he said. “For Americans, it is a headline—quickly replaced by the next great domestic social issue.”
True to his prediction, abortion, gun violence, immigration and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine all quickly swept Afghanistan from headline news.
Miller continued: “For the world, Afghanistan’s legacy as a troubled nation open for conquest and destined for chaos continues.”
He also questioned the true value of the war’s military lessons learned by American forces, and the limits of those lessons, all a valid point compared to the more recent warfare in Ukraine involving a superpower enemy with more modern weaponry.
Regarding Afghanistan: “Militarily, the past 20 years provided the joint services a testing ground of tactics, techniques, and procedures to validate the simplest of infantry tactics to the most complex employment of joint force combat operations.”
However, “although the fighting men and women in uniform for the United States gained a wealth of experience, it comes against an enemy whose unconventional and unorthodox fighting style fails to prepare the force against future enemies at a near-peer to peer level of operations in a conventional environment.”
The cost in blood
What never can be denied is the tragic loss of American lives in Afghanistan, including brave men and women from Alabama. The first American killed there in post 9/11, in fact, was Mike Spann, an Alabama native and Auburn University graduate who was a United States Marine before being recruited to the CIA.
He was killed in a Taliban prison uprising while trying to gather intelligence on who had attacked the U.S.
Many others soon answered the call to serve and protect the American homeland from terrorism.
Their sacrifice should never be forgotten.
*****
Troy Turner is editor and founder of AlaDefense.com. He has more than three decades of journalism experience that includes global reporting and military/defense analysis. He also holds a master’s degree in history/international relations.
