CLOSING IN ON TRUTH by Leonard Magruder, VIETNAM VETERANS FOR ACADEMIC REFORM

Fred Barnes, Editor of The Weekly Standard, in a little noticed press release, claims that:

"Last Monday Bush was briefed on an actual plan for victory in Iraq, one that is likely to be implemented. Retired General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the Army, sketched it for him during a meeting of five outside experts at the White House. The president's reaction, according to a senior advisor, was "very positive." Authored by Keane and military expert Frederick W. Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute the plan ...envisions a temporary addition of 50,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. The initial mission would be to secure and hold the mixed neighborhoods of Shia and Sunni residents where most of the violence occurs. Once cleared, American and Iraqi troops would remain behind. living side-by-side among the population. The plan is an application of a counterinsurgency approach that proved effective in Vietnam. Using this plan, of secure and hold, General Creighton Abrams cleared out the enemy so successfully that the South Vietnamese government took control of the country. Only when Congress cut off funds to South Vietnam in 1974 were the North Vietnamese able to win."

CNN acknowledged this meeting in their Monday night news, but would not describe the plan or its origins because the media had never told America about the success of the plan in Vietnam.

Peter Spiegel of "The Los Angeles Times" in an article in "The Lawrence Journal-World" on Saturday, Nov. 25, coincidentally, brought out facts about the Vietnam War, which turn out to be related to this plan, that have been suppressed for decades on the American campus.

"In historical assessments and the American recollection," said Spiegel, "Vietnam was the unwinnable war. But to many in the armed forces, Vietnam as a war was actually on its way to succeeding when the Nixon administration and Congress, bowing to public impatience, pulled the plug, first withdrawing U.S. combat forces and then blocking funding and supplies to the South Vietnamese Army. If they hadn't the South Vietnamese Army , which had been bolstered by U.S. advisers and a more focused "hearts-and-minds" campaign in the later stages of the war, could have fended off the communist North, military thinkers have argued. "

This is the one truth, above all other truths, that the university hoped would never see the light of day. We expand on this in this article.

Actually the retreat began under President Johnson who wrote to General Westmoreland shortly after the Tet Offensive, ironically, that to "pursue the war more aggressively was politically unfeasible" because he had, "no choice but to calm the protestors lest they precipitate an abject American pull-out." ("America in Vietnam," Lewy, 1978). The protestors were protesting the significant American victory at Tet. ( For details on this phenomenon see "Tet" at v-v-a-r.org ) Also, it was not public opinion that led to blocking funding. Sometime in 1972, the American soldier having fought the war successfully to a peace treaty left South Vietnam, leaving the South Vietnamese army to fight the North alone, which they did successfully for two years, including the massive Easter invasion from the North. Then a Democratic majority in Congress, led by Senator Ted Kennedy of Chappaquiddick fame, in a totally gratuitous betrayal of an ally, cut off all their ammunition and drowned them in the South China Sea. Said Major General Ira Hunt, "For two years the Army of South Vietnam were cleaning their clocks, they were giving more than they were getting, there is no question about it. But when we pulled the plug logistically there was no way they could carry on. We simply abandoned an ally."

The American soldier won the war, but it was thrown away by the Democrats. Is this going to happen again ? Apparently not if Bush can help it.

To begin with, one thing university faculty always hide from students is any idea of the overall overwhelming success of American forces and ARVN, or the Army of South Vietnam, in the five major offensives of the Vietnam War. Here are the statistics, from "Vietnam in Military Statistics- A History of the Indochina Wars," by Micheal Clodfelter, Vietnam War combat veteran and noted war historian.

1968 - The Tet Offensive U.S. - 1,829 KIA (Killed In Action) South Vietnam - 2,788 KIA Communist forces - 45,000 KIA

1969 - U.S. - 9,414 KIA South Vietnam - 21,833 KIA Communist forces - 156,954 KIA

1970 (includes Cambodian Incursion) U.S.- 4,221 KIA South Vietnam - 23,346 KIA Communist forces - 103,638 KIA

Laos Invasion (Lam Son 719 ) (with U.S. air support) South Vietnam - 3,800 KIA Communist forces -13,668 KIA

1972 -Easter Offensive (with U.S.air support) South Vietnam - 15,000 Communist forces - 83,000

The actual number of Communist soldiers killed during the war: 1,100,000. Compare this to approximately 58,000 American forces killed. That is a 19 to 1 ratio. Made aware of these facts students would certainly wonder - why are they teaching us the war was "lost" ? Obviously not on the battlefield while America was engaged.

For the full scope of the true tragedy of Vietnam, that it was a war that had been won and then thrown away to placate those at home who would not serve, we now have new histories that fill in what happened after 1968. This is a period of the war in which there was significant progress under General Abrams new "hold and secure" policy, following Genral Westmoreland's initial "search and destroy" policy, a period widely neglected in discussions of the Vietnam War. Very little of this progress was made known at the time to the American people by the media. Two of the most important of these new histories are "Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army," by Mark Woodruff, and "A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam", by Lewis Sorley.

"The war appeared to settle into this routine with the North launching attacks against the South from within safe sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia, and even the DMZ. ...Hanoi's troops invariably suffered badly at the hands of the Americans. In every single battle they were beaten, even by their own admission."

Said Sir Robert Thompson ,"In my view, on December 30, 1972, after eleven days of those B-52 attacks on the Hanoi area , you had won the war. It was over. They had fired 1,242 SAMs , they had none left. They and their whole rear base were at your mercy."

(Sir Robert Thompson is the world's foremost authority on People's Revolutinary War, who as Secretary of Defense of the Malaysian Federation defeated the communist insurgency there. Often critical of Nixon's policies, nevertheless in a special report to him on progress under Abrams in Vietnam he wrote: "In 1969, I was very impressed by the improvement in the military and political situation in Vietnam as compared to all previous visits , and especially in the security situation , both in Saigon and the rural areas. A winning position in the sense of obtaining a just peace, whether negotiated or not, and of maintaining an independent non-communist South Vietnam has been achieved. We were most impressed by the remarkable success of the pacification program, we were able to visit areas and to walk through villages that had been under Viet Cong control for years. With increased security and improved communications, the economy is expanding rapidly The seeds of democracy are also being planted at the village level. At the higher or political level there is no question but what the government of President Thieu is not only more stable than any other government of the past few years, but that its performance is steadily improving. On the military side, there has been a steady improvement in both performance and morale." Where had all this progress come from , if not from the efforts and sacrifices of the American soldier ?)

"That spring, a secret delegation of Communist military experts from North Korea, China, and Cuba visited the war theatre, reporting back that the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong forces could not hold out much longer against the United States and its allies."

"What may have been missing for both the Americans and the Australians was not a "welcome home parade", but some acknowledgement of the victory they had achieved over the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army." (This is where the war protestors really betrayed the American soldier, who got back at them good when they denied Kerry the presidency. According to a poll we took of some 6,000 Vietnam vets from 32 groups during the 2004 election, 80% of them planned to vote against Kerry, viewing him as an anti-war leader. This finding was reported in an article in United Press International, but the national press elsewhere frantically suppressed the finding. The national press campaigned for Kerry, just as it campaigned for Democrats in the recent elections, telling America the lie that the Democrats "have the solution." Which of course they don't. -------------------------- Here are some excerpts from "A Better War ", by Lewis Sorley. Sorley is also the narrator in a highly objective new 4-part film series on the war, "The Long Way Home Project" which students need to see. Particularly the two parts that document the thesis of this article: Part 2 - How the War Was Won Part 3 - How the War was Lost

"There was never any popular uprising in support of the enemy in South Vietnam. Not too surprising in view of the enemy's record, year after year, of assassinations , kidnappings, terror bombings, impressments, and indiscriminate shellings of population centers throughout South Vietnam. The enemy's response to the success of pacification, said General Harold K. Johnson , was "cut throats faster, cut throats faster." Said General Michael Davidson, "It is fair to say that by the middle winter of 1970-1971 the Viet Cong had been virtually eliminated and the North Vietnamese Army which had endeavored to go big time with divisional size units, had been driven across the border into Cambodia. "

"In the villages and hamlets the People's Self-Defense Force had mushroomed during 1969. At year's end, now organized into a combat arm and a support arm, this PSDF had more than 1,300,000 men and women in the combat arm, backed up by about 1,750,000 women, children, and elderly men in the support arm. (In other words, just about all of South Vietnam had mobilized in support of the American effort, but students are never told this, they are taught the South didn't want us there.)

"Following President Nixon's famous "silent majority" speech of Nov. 3, 1969 support for the war jumped to 77 percent, with disapproval dropping to 6 percent. By late 1969 almost the entire population of South Vietnam was thought to be living under substantially secure conditions. More persuasive than the statistics were the obvious improvements in both security and prosperity reflected in daily village life. In March 1970 President Thieu introduced his "Land to the Tiller" program. All rents were suspended and almost 400,000 farmers would received title to a million and a half acres of land. Prior to that, in an even more dramatic move, he had provided arms to most civilians. Had he been an unpopular president, as argued by the anti-war movement, he would never have risked doing that.

"In these later years the press simply missed the war. Maybe it wasn't exciting enough. But it was what the American soldier had done for South Vietnam; hamlets in which the population remained secure, refugees able to return to their villages, distribution of land to the peasantry, miracle rice harvests, roads kept open for farm-to-market traffic, the election and training of village governments. Some of what the press did see in Vietnam never got to the public back home ". They didn't want the American people to know the war was being won. Nor did the anti-war forces.

As David Horowitz, an editor of the radical antiwar movement's journal, "Ramparts" during those years later acknowledged, "Let me make this perfectly clear. Those of us who inspired, and then led, the antiwar movement did not want just to stop the killing as so many veterans of those domestic battles now claim. We wanted the Communists to win." The truth is, the "peace" movement was never really concerned about peace. Although it cloaked itself in an aura of great moral purpose, it in fact gave aid and comfort to the enemy, marched under the flag of the Viet Cong, allowed Hanoi to dictate its agenda, and turned its back on the American soldier. When the soldiers returned, it tried to stereotype them, with the help of the media, as dupes , or drug -crazed "baby killers." That those who did all the suffering in Vietnam should on their return be asked to bear additional suffering at the hands of the very ones who had betrayed them was absolutely unconscionable. Not to mention they wanted the soldiers to lose. Students need to be told about these things, to help them realize that the new antiwar elements on campus are engaged in the same type of betrayal, totally oblivious, apparently, to the fact that this time it will include nuclear attacks on American cities. Its the stupidity, stupid ! -----------------------------

It is absolutely time to demand that the media, and the university stop hiding out on the subject of Vietnam and re-enter into dialogue with the rest of America, especially its Vietnam veterans, as to what really happened. We cannot go into a world-wide war on terrorism with these huge lies in our history. Holding on to, and perpetuating myths, has too great a potential for creating another lethal, paralyzing polarization. The media, and the campus, must find the courage to consider “second thoughts,” as have David Horowitz and so many others of the anti-war movement, Horowitz now describing what they did in the 60’s as “treason.” The campus and the media fell for enemy propaganda and it is time they admitted it.

As the Chief of Military History-U.S Government wrote in his Final Report,”If there is to be an inquiry related to the Vietnam War, it should be into the reasons why enemy propaganda was so widespread in this country, and why the enemy was able to condition the public to such an extent that the best educated segments of our population (media and academia) gave credence to the most incredible allegations.”

That this issue of lying about Vietnam has continued to be a problem up to today is shown by the fact that even as Kerry was being nominated at the Democratic Convention in Boston, right next door at Simmons College some of the nation's top historians and military experts on Vietnam were holding a symposium, "Examining the Myths of the Vietnam War." Out of this came the new Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation. The President of the group, Col. George E. Day, said in a press release, "A false history of Vietnam has been used to endanger and demoralize our troops in combat, undermine the public confidence in U.S. foreign policy and weaken our national security. Leftists lied about the war 35 years ago and are lying about it today. Our goal is to counter more than three decades of misinformation and propaganda and set the record straight." The media at the Convention next door, demonstrating once again its perpetual cover-up of all issues having to do with the Vietnam War, knew all about this but did not report it to the American people. Not long after, the group published a booklet to be used on college campuses , "Whitewash/Blackwash - Myths of the Vietnam War", by Bill Laurie, who is a member of our Board of Advisors, and R. J. Del Vecchio. (available at TechConsultServ@Juno.com)

As columnist Stephen Young wrote on the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam War, "Our national recollection of the war still matches that of the New Left." The time has come to raise the questions anew, because the new films and the new histories are devastating to the leftist version on campus and could end this debate forever. This is the one great trauma in the tissue of American history that has never been honestly dealt with. The psychology of the phenomenon is elementary. To admit to having been wrong would be to face, not only guilt, but disproof of their ideological assumptions. But it is these same assumptions that are causing the wave of anti-Semitism on campus, the dangerous "Islam is peaceful " mythology, and the anti-Americanism being pressed on students. "It is because of something we did to them." We cannot win the war against terror with the campus building towards a polarization that could again paralyze a national effort.

If President Bush does adopt the "secure and hold" plan, it was successful before, and it could work in Iraq as well. But we must watch the media and the university like a hawk.

The plan is an application of a counterinsurgency approach that proved effective in Vietnam . Using this plan, of secure and hold, General Creighton Abrams cleared out the enemy so successfully that the South Vietnamese government took control of the country. Only when Congress cut off funds to South Vietnam in 1974 were the North Vietnamese able to win."

Actually the retreat began under President Johnson who wrote to General Westmoreland shortly after the Tet Offensive that to "pursue the war more aggressively was politically unfeasible" because he had, "no choice but to calm the protestors lest they precipitate an abject American pull-out." (" America in Vietnam ," Lewy, 1978). The protestors were protesting the significant American victory at Tet. ( For details on this phenomenon see "Tet" at v-v-a-r.org ) Also, it was not public opinion that led to blocking funding. Sometime in 1972, the American soldier having fought the war successfully to a peace treaty left South Vietnam , leaving the South Vietnamese army to fight the North alone, which they did successfully for two years, including the massive Easter invasion from the North. Then a Democratic majority in Congress, led by Senator Ted Kennedy of Chappaquiddick fame, in a totally gratuitous betrayal of an ally, cut off all their ammunition and drowned them in the South China Sea .
Said Major General Ira Hunt, "For two years the Army of South Vietnam were cleaning their clocks, they were giving more than they were getting, there is no question about it. But when we pulled the plug logistically there was no way they could carry on. We simply abandoned an ally."

But we must watch the media and the university like a hawk.

The anti-war crowd, led by the self proclaimed military expert, Walter Cronkite, kept the fires of the lean of mind and cowardly peace-nicks, all bent on losing the war then blaming those who were actually winning the peace. A great read that finally puts the loss where it belongs...on the media and 'intellectuals'...is Mark Moyar's "Triumph Forsaken" - this is a must read for the truth about Vietnam. The Cindy Sheehans and Michael Moores, George Seros money, Hollywood's military experts along with many liberals nearly, I repeat, nearly doomed Iraq as we succeed there, just like they did in Nam........don’t let it happen.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND SUPPORT PRESIDENT BUSH WITH ACTION.

A very important point that these gentlemen need to raise was a particular lie that was promulgated by left-wing academia.

"Either you (the students) go out there and protest against the war, or I will fail you in class, you will lose your deferment, be drafted, shipped to Vietnam and die!"

This shows their direct complicity in the undermining of the US war effort, creating irrational fear in hundreds of thousands of young men, and agitating for violent and illegal activities.

To start with, out of a standing army of some 2,000,000, which means that in a decade perhaps 10,000,000 served; over the course of 10 years, the US lost some 56,000 men, slightly more than half from combat-related injuries. But for those 56,000, dying in Vietnam was a long chain of events, both involuntary and voluntary, that was hard to navigate.

To begin with, many of those who died were volunteers, who had specifically selected combat arms as their branch. Each one accepted meant one less draftee needed.

In Vietnam, the ratio of combat support and combat service support personnel to combat personnel was about 13-to-1. And while CS and CSS personnel were also killed, the combat branches suffered the vast majority of casualties.

In addition, personnel who re-enlisted often chose to remain with their units in Vietnam. Each individual who did so prevented someone new from joining his unit as a replacement. Some served three or more tours.

Not all combat units were stationed in "hot" combat zones. This meant that many combat personnel never experienced what they considered serious combat, just intermittent low-level terrorism type attacks.

The draft was also rife with deferments, both for service entirely, and for combat:

Conscientious objector for non-combatant duty.
Member of armed forces, Environmental Science Services, and Public Health Service.
Member of reserve component, ROTC, or Aviation Cadet.
Student deferment until the age of 20 or graduation.
Conscientious objector performing civilian work contributing to the maintenance of national health, safety, or interest, or who has completed such work.
Registrant qualified for military service only in time of war or national emergency.
Occupational deferment (other than agricultural and student).
Agricultural deferment.
Extreme hardship deferment, or registrant with a child.
Registrant with sufficient prior active service or who is a sole surviving son.
Official deferred by law.
Alien not currently liable for military service.
Minister of religion or divinity student.
Registrant not qualified for any military service.

(It was repeatedly noted by the left that Dick Cheney qualified for five different deferments during the war.)

And even if none of these deferments applied, the number of men entered into the draft lottery was far more than those who had their numbers selected.

"Some young men delayed registration until the year in which they turned 21, or even until just before turning 26. This method took advantage of the way the draft lottery worked.
A lottery based on birthdays determiner the order in which registered men were called up by Selective Service. The first to be called, in a sequence determined by the lottery, were men whose 20th birthday falls during that year, followed, if needed, by those aged 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25."

Between 250,000 and 2,000,000 men didn't even register with Selective Service during that the war.

These and other facts need to be published by veterans who felt betrayed by the left in America. If possible, those academics who sponsored efforts to terrify their students and coerce them to violent agitation, and their institutions, should be exposed for their radical and anti-American agendas.

Only when Congress cut off funds to South Vietnam in 1974 were the North Vietnamese able to win."

This time, the Democratic Congress will likely cut off funds *before* the strategy can be executed. It's just their way.

The only way to win now, it to go on the offensive, just as Westmoreland wanted to do. But like the situation circa 1970, the Leftstream Media has "poisoned the well". Even among military families, most especially many parents of the troops, there is little understanding of "why we fight", and little support for the mission. I've heard them say so in the airport and in restaurants near the post I work on. (I lurk well. :) ) I've heard similar sentiments from retirees who run small businesses or work at various establishments in the area.

"Last Monday Bush was briefed on an actual plan for victory in Iraq, one that is likely to be implemented. Retired General Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff of the Army, sketched it for him during a meeting of five outside experts at the White House. The president's reaction, according to a senior advisor, was "very positive." Authored by Keane and military expert Frederick W. Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute the plan ...envisions a temporary addition of 50,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. The initial mission would be to secure and hold the mixed neighborhoods of Shia and Sunni residents where most of the violence occurs. Once cleared, American and Iraqi troops would remain behind. living side-by-side among the population.

Strange I don't see anything about leveling towns or blasting everyone in sight. They must not've consulted with the armchair generals here.

I didn't go to Vietnam. From 1966-71, I built Fast Frigates for the Navy.
I was the General Foreman on this one:

USS HAROLD E. HOLT's history includes the reclamation of the containership SS MAYAGUEZ in May 1975. MAYAGUEZ was seized by the Cambodians and the crew was held captive. HOLT went alongside and boarded the MAYAGUEZ. Together with other Navy and Marine units, HOLT repatriated the MAYAGUEZ crew. Decommissioned on July 2, 1992, and stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, the HAROLD E. HOLT was disposed of as a target on July 10, 2002, during RIMPAC 2002. The ship was sunk by the USS PAUL F. FOSTER (DD 964) at 023° 02' North, 160° 04' West.

I had subordinates who had been in Vietnam. They all replied" You don't want to know" when I asked about Vietnam.

Later, I was with the California Highway Patrol, where several officers are Vietnam Vets. About 1975, they started opening up:
Tales of a pilot who wasn't allowed to bomb a munitions dump near Haiphong.
Tales of not being able to fire at anything without permission.
Tales of having to wait for permission from far up the chain before engaging an enemy force.
Tales of bombing bridges, and having them rebuilt overnight.
How books like "The Flight of the Intruder", "The 13th Valley", and "Everything we had" were very accurate accounts.

You guys did it right, and as well as the WWII guys. It was just Management by Over-reaction that had your hands tied.

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