Nicolas

Sawicky Part 1 A Rumor of War Essay The Vietnam War was a time in Americas history that will not soon be forgotten. It

brought about the question: why do we fight? Vietnam pitted the youth of America against the older, traditionalist portion of America. These WWII veterans exclaimed something to the tune of: we fought the Nazis, now its this generations job to stop the commies! What these conservative minded Americans did not know was that the war in Vietnam was an unwinnable war, fought for the wrong reasons. Philip Caputos memoir, A Rumor of War, gives a vivid look into the Vietnam War.

He chronicles his involvement from the wars simple beginnings to his regretful retreat from Saigon. A Rumor of War reads like the script of an Oscar worthy war movie. You feel like you are right beside Caputo, witnessing the life altering events that he witnessed. He is able to provide so many compelling parts of the Vietnam War to the reader. Whether it is his first night watch, the experience of someone shooting at you, losing a man to the environment, being the self appointed officer of the dead, the death of friends and the effect it has on you, the lack of emotion from the high command, ignorance of new soldiers, trying to speak to a dead friend, how war changes people, facing a mortar attack, or the final realization of what the war was; Caputo is able to capture your attention and report on the true story of the Vietnam War. One of Caputos first compelling stories in his book is his first night watch. The

reader is given vivid details of how it feels to have night watch. Caputo describes the scary

feeling of knowing that the enemy is out there somewhere, but you cannot see him. You also had to deal with bugs that gave you welts on your face and hands (Caputo, 57). If all of this was not enough, Caputo describes how he was nearly shot by a fellow soldier who thought he was the enemy (Caputo, 57). Anyone of these factors would be enough to make a normal person hate night watch duty, but American soldiers were faced with these plights on a regular bases. The reader can understand that these young Americans were forced to grow up fast if they wanted to survive the harsh reality that was Vietnam. Another experience that makes the reader really reflect on what it was like to be a

soldier in Vietnam is when Philip Caputo was personally shot at. He explains that he had a hard time understanding the malice that he was receiving from this Viet Cong sniper. The author did not believe he deserved to be shot at, but after some thought he realizes that the sniper was just doing his job, it was nothing personal (Caputo, 93). When an observer thinks of war it is known that it is a soldiers duty to kill the enemy, even if that person has done nothing to you. Caputo brings up a question that many soldiers probably ask themselves, why me? Im a good person. The answer is that its war is like nothing else. You kill because you are told to, because your president says the enemy needs to die. The Viet Cong were not the only thing killing American G.I.s. The environment of

Vietnam was also taking American lives. An alarming example of this is the story of a machine gunner named Powell. Caputo witnessed first hand what a heatstroke can do to a soldier. Powell would slip into unconsciousness then wake up in a fiery rage. When they finally got him to a doctor, the men find out that he has a temperature of 109 degrees and he would either die or suffer permanent brain damage (Caputo, 106). This story helps the

reader understand how many roadblocks were out there, all trying to take something away from these young American boys. Caputo says it best; It is as if the Sun and land were in league with the Viet Cong, wearing us down, driving us mad, killing us. (Caputo, 106) Something you do not immediately think of when you hear the phrase Vietnam

War is an officer insisting that new soldiers see some blood before entering combat. Caputo was given orders by a Corporal to display four severely dismembered Viet Cong bodies in the center of the camp so that each soldier could get a glimpse of what they were about to encounter in the field (Caputo, 178). When you think about it, it does make sense that an officer would want his men to puke at the sight of dead bodies now, instead of in the heat of battle. What is despicable is that Corporals orders to get the bodies after they had been buried so that he could show them off to a General that was visiting the camp (Caputo, 179). That action shows the selfishness of some officers who are willing to do anything to receive a promotion. Something that you hear so much with veterans of the Vietnam War is that they

suffer from terrible nightmares based on their experiences during the war. Caputo experienced one of these traumatizing dreams after seeing some of his friends die right in front of his eyes. The nightmare places Caputo in command of a platoon of all the men he had served with that have died. These men looked just like they had when they died, legless, armless, and eyeless (Caputo, 199). This experience puts a whole new meaning to Caputos self-assigned name the officer in charge of the dead. The next morning, Caputo still saw the faces of these men as he shaved (Caputo, 200). It is experiences like these that

really hammer in the point that even if you were not wounded or killed, you could still be a casualty of this war. As American soldiers continued to die, new ones were brought into Vietnam. Caputo

states that he was both charmed and saddened by their enthusiasm (Caputo, 216). He was charmed because he wished that he could feel that way again, but he was saddened because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into (Caputo, 216). This statement shows you where the authors mind was at the time. He was a broken man. Vietnam made him bitter and pessimistic. He also knew that these zealous boys would face the same fate, if they survived long enough. You further see the deterioration of Caputos psyche when he switches from a

narrative to directly addressing his dead friend Levy. Caputo is angry with the United States of America for trying to forget the Vietnam War and all the brave men that fought and died in it. Caputo tells his friend that he was one of the best men he had ever met and did not deserve to be forgotten (Caputo, 223). This address to Levy was written 11 years after the war and at the time there were no monuments commemorating the brave men that had died for their country. The most compelling part of the address is when he gets angry with himself for not being able to remember something that he said, believing that it would make him alive again (Caputo, 223). He really believed that remembering little things like that would bring his friend to life again. It is relatively obvious that as the war progressed, Philip Caputo became less and

less happy with the way his country was handling the situation in Vietnam. During his tour of duty, he witnessed many missteps by the United States government. After his tour, he

even joined other Vietnam veterans who were against the war. Some lessons that he draws from Vietnam are: wars can escalate quickly, the military tactics in Vietnam did not work, soldiers were handled like numbers instead of people, and soldiers were being treated like common criminals. The Vietnam War started off with the American government sending over some

military advisors to South Vietnam in the interest of preserving their democracy. With increased executive power handed over to president Johnson after an alleged attack on a US ship, Vietnam began to see American planes and other vehicles land along with combat troops to protect these interests. It was at this time that Philip Caputo was a part of the splendid little war (Caputo, 66). It was his job to protect an airfield from enemy attack and most men enjoyed plenty of drinking and whoring on the side (Caputo, 66). These fun times only lasted so long. It was not long before America was in a full-fledged war with the Viet Cong. This escalation cost America so many young mens lives along with a stain of interfering with other countries politics. The tactics of the U.S. military in Vietnam were, at times, very counter-productive. In

an argument with the base chaplain, Caputo comes to realize these mistakes. The chaplain points out that we just send out platoons into the jungle and either end up killing a few Viet Cong or lose some of our own boys. The men then return back to base and do it all over again (Caputo, 178). Caputo after initially shrugging it off realized that there was a lot of truth to what the preacher said. He describes the tactics as futile and directed towards no apparent end (Caputo, 179).

Organizing a large-scale war like the Vietnam War, it becomes very easy to think of

every soldier as just another number. During part of his tour of duty, Caputo was in charge of statistics for the base. That meant that he would record any kills of Viet Cong as well as American soldier deaths. The officers above Caputo looked at these statistics as a way to record the progress of the war. Caputo dreaded this task. When he looked at these numbers, he saw men who died in the alien world that was Vietnam. The scoreboard was indifferent to the tragedy of death (Caputo, 202). This indifference towards the dead is how the American public viewed the US government. The government has never been trusted much since. Court-martials are a touchy subject when it comes to actions in the heat of battle.

Caputo points out that the men were taught to kill, told to kill, and then court-martialed for killing (Caputo, 322). There was an extenuating circumstances option on the paper work, but that was usually left blank, even though you could argue the Vietnam War was an extenuating circumstance. Civilians were killed everyday by air strikes and mortar fire, but those were chalked up as acceptable losses due to the inaccuracy of the technology. Adding that same excuse to the ground combat would raise the question of the morality of American intervention in Vietnam, because then the whole war would be the cause of civilians dying (Caputo, 323). It was this fear of opening a can of worms that caused Caputo to be tried as if he were a common criminal during peacetime (Caputo, 323). These actions caused unrest among many veterans. They would never forget when the military turned their back on its soldiers.

The Vietnam War was a complicated series of events that took the great savior

image of America from WWII and made us the great invader. Philip Caputo is able to capture the events that unfolded in the forests of Vietnam with pinpoint accuracy. He molds the facts into a compelling story of what not to do in wartime. Although the story is mostly sad, it does clarify what really happened in the alien world that was Vietnam. Anyone that gets a chance to read A Rumor of War will become an expert on the realities that existed in that terrible warzone. 7

Part 2 9/11 Commission Report The attacks that took place on September 11th, 2001 forever cemented a feeling of vulnerability for many Americans. A week after the attacks, every American above the age of 10 knew the name Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden and his terror organization, Al Qaeda, were viewed as murderous cowards to the western world. The storm did not stop there. Americans wanted to know how something so destructive could happen on American soil. To answer that question, the United States government put together the 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission consisted of five Democrats and five Republicans; their final report would serve as documented account of Americas preparedness and handling of the aftermath of the attacks. The report chronicled the many intelligence clues that were missed by the U.S. government and if picked up, could have prevented the attacks from occurring. Some of these clues were: A call between an ally of Bin Laden and a Palestinian extremist, the arrest of Ressam, the USS Cole attack, Muslims coming to America and learning to fly multi engine jets, arrest of Moussaoui after trying to learn how to fly, threat reports surging in June and July, and word of a imminent attack by Bin Laden. The first major clue to an attack by Islamic extremists was the recording of a call between an ally of Bin Laden and a Palestinian extremist on November 30, 1999. In this phone conversation, Bin Ladens ally tells the Palestinian extremist The time for training is over (May, 105). This message is still very vague, but it should have still intensified the magnifying glass that was on Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

Another signal should have been when Ahmed Ressam was arrested for attempting to blow up part of the Los Angeles International Airport in 2000 (May, 106). This attempt not only proved that Islamic extremists were interested in targets on American soil, but were capable of executing such a plan. This failed attempt should have taken some of the focus off of foreign threats and placed those resources in the job of protecting the home front. The deadly attack on the USS Cole should have also raised some red flags relating to Islamic extremists (May, 110). This was a direct attack on American lives. The attack showed the carful planning and execution of these terrorists. If the U.S. government had any doubts about the legitimacy of Al Qaeda up until that point, there was no question after the USS Cole attack. The suspicious activity of some foreign Muslims should have been another clue to the 9/11 attacks. Hazmi and Mihdhar came to California, despite knowing no English, and attempted to learn how to fly planes (May, 119). They of course failed since they needed to be able to communicate with their flight instructor. There also were three Muslims learning how to fly multi engine jets in Florida. They were able to receive their commercial pilots license in December of 2000 (May, 121). These two instances of unusual individuals showing an interest in learning to plane large planes should have made it to some government agencys desk. The biggest indicator of the impending attack was the Moussaoui slipup. Along with being a Muslim, Moussaoui started flight simulator training without a desire to get a license (May, 125). He had little knowledge of flying and only wanted to learn how to take off and

land a Boeing 747 (May, 131). This aroused enough suspicion that he was then arrested on immigration charges. Unfortunately, that is where it ended. The FBI did not think there was enough evidence to get a warrant to search his laptop (May, 132). It remained an FBI case and was never brought up in White House security reports, thus never being connected with the summer threats of 2001 (May, 133). This case had so many screw-ups it is sickening. First off, the FBI should have pressed for a warrant of Moussaouis laptop. Another oversight was the FBIs decision to not share the information with the rest of the intelligence community. If word of this flight simulation training reached the security reports, it could have been connected with the surge of threats that the US was receiving. Lastly, if word of Moussaouis capture would have reached Osama Bin Laden, it is very likely he would have cancelled the whole operation out of fear that his plan had been revealed. In the summer of 2001, the United States intelligence community began to hear about a large amount of threats (May, 128). These reports made it to the presidents security briefings, but without any information on specific plans, the threats were hallow. If some of previous clues had been reported along with these threats, the U.S. might have been able to put the pieces together. As time drew closer to the infamous date of September 11th, the U.S. picked up some more references to an impending attack. The security reports began to state that a spectacular terrorist attack was imminent (May, 129). An August 6th edition of the Presidential Daily Brief stated: Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S. (May, 130). These two pieces of evidence should have been enough to force the president to tighten security

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within high value targets in the United States. This means that places like airports would have stricter security practices, and might have been able to stop the terrorists before getting on their planes that fateful morning. After viewing the report, it is obvious that some practices within the United States needed to change so that an attack like this could never happen again. America needs to learn from this tragic event, so that all those people were not killed in vein. Some reforms that need to take place are: immediate destruction of terrorist training camps, better communication between field agents and their bosses, increased level of response on domestic threats, and some people looking at the bigger picture. Before September 11th, the United States allowed the existence of large scale Al Qaeda bases where people were being trained to kill Americans (May, 118). Something as obvious as terrorist training camps, have no business being allowed to stay in operation. No matter what country they are in, these camps should be destroyed and the people inside them should be captured and imprisoned. Without these large camps, it would have been much harder for the 9/11 hijackers to receive their training on taking over a plane. Communication is key in the intelligence community. Information needs to be processed and then given to the right channels so that the information can be put to good use. This is something that was lacking in the pre-9/11 U.S. Communication between the higher administration in the intelligence community never reached the field agents in their respective agencies (May, 129). With no knowledge of a possible attack involving multi- engine planes, agents did not keep an eye out for suspicious activity surrounding that threat.

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A huge refinement that is necessary for Americas protection at home is an increase in response to domestic threats. Before September 11th, there was a huge disparity between the responses to foreign threats versus domestic threats. A huge reason for this was the often vagueness of domestic threats (May, 131). Its is still no excuse to why, in response to the multitude of threats that the government received leading up the September 11th, more was not done to stop the attack. The borders should have been hardened, the transportation systems should have been fortified, state and local law enforcement should have been marshaled to augment the FBIs efforts, the public should have been warned about the threat of attack and to be vigilant for suspicious activity (May, 131). The final reform is a simple one, but still needs to take place in this post-9/11 world. There needs to be intelligence members who are always looking at the bigger picture and connecting the dots. Leading up to the 9/11 attacks, no one in the U.S. government looked at the bigger picture (May, 134). With someone who is always in the loop about recent terrorist threats and intelligence gathered from the different intelligence agencies, it would be more likely that the puzzle that was 9/11 could have been revealed before thousands of Americans lives were lost. September 11th, 2001, just like December 7th, 1941 will be a day that lives in infamy. The attacks on 9/11 killed many innocent American lives. After looking deep into the many missteps that occurred leading up to the attack, it becomes obvious that the deaths could have been prevented. It is for this reason that America must learn from its mistakes and reform its procedures so that it never has to got through another Pearl Harbor or 9/11.

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Works Cited Caputo, Philip J. A Rumor of War. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 1977. Print. May, Ernest R. The 9/11 Commision Report with Related Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. Print.

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