First off.....you need to really really look at the draft protests and what affect they had. Also where they were located. Most protests, while large, where resigned to the Coasts and the associated campuses. The movement was also tied in with Civil Rights marches, so when u watch the History Channel, it looks like all hell was breaking loose. You had Watts riots, DNC riots etc etc. You had the myth of hippies spitting on GI's, which may never really have happened. You had kent state, small protest turned into a huge mess by over zealous and untrained NG soldiers. We have very structured Riot Control procedures these days. They talk about crowd dynamic and how to defuse situations with force or lack of it depending on the situation. We use non-lethal means/weapons etc.
Vietnam was very winnable. We had defeated the VC after Tet, we were bombing the north by 1972. Yet all that had happend prior to, forced US public opinion to shift, and we pulled out. The North knew we could not be defeated militarily so they sapped our will at home. They knew that a spectacular attack, such at TET could push us over the edge. So u got VC attacking the Embassy. That added to fuel the anti-war movement, but more importantly, turned Congress against the war. Yet the aim of TET by the North was two fold...sway Us public opinion and destroy the VC. They knew that they could not allow a militia organization to compete for the South. It was a gamble that paid off. We crushed the VC at Hue, and damaged them at Khe Sahn. No single thing, especially the Draft led to our defeat.
We could face the same thing in Iraq. We have the report coming in a few weeks. One spectactular attack and all public support could be lost. Couple that with a resurgent Draft and we're done in Iraq.
