[xm177e2]

We couldn't win the Vietnam War... without being willing to attack North Vietnam. If Ho Chi Minh wasn't satisfied with half of his country, we should have taken the whole thing from him. Leaving the Communists a base from which to attack us was a terrible mistake. When you go to war, you have to go to war and engage your enemies, not make arbitrary borders and refuse to go beyond them.

[mrustow]

For some crazy reason, I've never heard anyone cite this explanation, and it never occurred to me. It's the military equivalent of a "prevent" defense in football, and as the saying goes, "The only thing a prevent defense does, is prevent you from winning."