- By: Hammad Husain
The Chi factor has humbled American military power twice in sixty years. In Vietnamese language, CHI means ‘the unbreakable will of a people’, and in Japanese it means ‘the wisdom to know your enemy’s weakness better than he knows it himself’. CHI is the one weapon Pentagon has not been able to defeat.
Vietnamese leader Ho CHI Minh and Iranian leader Abbas Aragh CHI share more than CHI in their names:
- Both led nations that the most powerful military in human history totally underestimated.
- Both understood that they don’t need to defeat America militarily, they just need to make the cost of staying higher than the cost of leaving.
- Both studied American domestic politics more carefully than American generals studied their battlefield.
- Both knew Washington’s real vulnerability was not on the battlefield but in American homes, gas stations and in the polls.
- Ho CHI Minh outlasted American political will through strategic patience. AraghCHI is executing the same doctrine: not winning battles but surviving them long enough for America’s political cost to become unbearable.
Ho CHI Minh said:
“Our secret weapon is nationalism. You can fight for a year, we can fight for twenty years. You cannot win.”
AraghCHI said:
“Iran’s dignity is non-negotiable. We will never surrender. We will resist as long as necessary to defend our land, our people, and our dignity.”
- PARALLELS
- America called the Vietnamese primitive. It called the Iranians animals.
- American leadership declared air superiority in Vietnam repeatedly while losing aircraft daily. It is doing the same in Iran.
- The Russians supported the Vietnamese. They’re now supporting the Iranians.
- America underestimated the resilience of the Vietnamese people and the power of assymetric warfare in Vietnam. It has made the same mistake in Iran.
- The main hawk behind the escalation of the Vietnam war was Defence Secretary McNamara, who eventually resigned when the tables turned. The hawk behind the Iran war is Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The American media has started demanding his resignation.
- THE PRICE OF ARROGANCE
US President Lyndon B. Johnson escalated the Vietnam war believing American firepower could break the nation’s will. He was forced to withdraw after heavy casualties, did not seek re-election, and died a broken man.
US President Donald J. Trump launched his Iran war, arrogantly declaring it would be over in a few days. Twenty-three days later his Gulf bases have been destroyed, his F-35s are being hit, his aircraft carriers have retreated, and he is seeking a face-saving exit.
America was defeated in Vietnam. It is being humbled in Iran. Same arrogance. Same miscalculation. Same bravado.
Same CHI factor.