There are shorter videos from Chomsky on this, but this one breaks it down thoroughly <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=CvZRsdHgxgA" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=CvZRsdHgxgA</a><p>The truth is, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq are colonial wars against insubordinate populations. We extract resources from those countries and their neighbors. When someone stands in the way they have to be punished so that other countries stay in line.<p>There is little hope of winning hearts and minds with all the civilians that have to be killed. The main goal is to punish and make examples of insubordination. The West merely needs to scare them and their neighbors to get its way within a few decades. It worked well enough with Vietnam.