[brazzaville]

Good evening.

I say the war was not lost until Nixon's burglars got caught.

After Tet of '68 the communists were badly damaged and ARVN was growing stronger. Even as the antiwar movement grew louder the military picture improved and Nixon had the courage to bomb the pee out of the communists so that it took them more time to recover.

When the communists launched an armor heavy attack in 1972 they were defeated, again, by ARVN and American air power but the attack was portrayed by the DemocRATs and the media as proof that the war could not be won. Was I being redundant there, saying DemocRATs and media in the same sentence?

Nixon launched the bombing campaign and Hanoi was very close to giving it all up. The pressure on Nixon was ratcheted up and Nixon's burglars were organized.

In my opinion that was when the war was lost.

Of course, we all know what opinions are like.

Michael Frazier

[sawdust]

"by ARVN and American air power"

The operative phrase here is AMERICAN AIR POWER. ARVN was never able to defeat large-scale conventional NVA attacks without US air power. Did it never occur to the Thieu government that, one day, the American people would insist ARVN fought its own battles?

[quadrant]

I agree that for all intents and purposes the Viet Cong ceased to exits after Tet and that the military
proficiency of the ARVN increased during the early years of the first Nixon presidency.
However, the ARVN never developed the skill necessary to cope with the North Vietnamese army without a US help. Perhaps the ARVN could have developed this skill over time,
but by 1970-71, a significant percentage of the people of the US, especially those people who wielded great influence over public opinion, were war weary and wanted out of the conflict, regardless of the consequences.
This unwillingness to support the ARVN had tragic consequences for the US troops who were required to serve in Vietnam and especially for the Vietnamese who had put their trust in the word of the US.