Replies

The interviewed ex-Generals of the VC army and did a 'post-mortem' . . . The thing that kept them going was the realization that our own press was going to put so much pressure on our politicians that we'd lose the resolve to see it through.

That's an excellent point, but it was only part of the "post-mortem" you described.

What they also found out was that the ex-generals of the VC army had also planned to wage a war against the U.S. that would last as long as 35 years. There was no way in hell this country was going to maintain a war footing for that long -- especially under our silly, delusional idea that could support the massive domestic expenditures for Johnson's "Great Society" programs at the same time we were fighting a war in Vietnam.

"What they also found out was that the ex-generals of the VC army had also planned to wage a war against the U.S. that would last as long as 35 years. "

By 1973 we had extracted ourselves enough from Vietnam that all we needed to do was guarantee the peace treaty of 1973 with some resolve, ie, air power. We could drop bombs for 35 years. No sweat.

Actually, just a few *weeks* of bombing with B-52s got the North Vietnamese to the treaty table.

The reason I mention this is how LITTLE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN NOT TO LOSE VIETNAM IN 1975. simply calling out the B-52 bombers from bases in Thailand would have instantly destroy the set-piece army that North Vietnam sent to the south in 1975. They North Vietnamese knew that US wouldnt lift a finger because the heavily Democrat/McGovernite Congress had basically cut off all aid to South Vietnam. ... as if to spite our former allies.

It was an assisted homicide of the nation of South Vietnam.

The idea that we lost Vietnam in 1967 or 1968 or 1972 is a MYTH. A LIE. A lie that the anti-vietnam war folks like to repeat because it misplaces the blame. Sure LBJ made huge mistakes. But military commanders after 1968 corrected many of them, and the price we paid from 1964-1973 in blood SECURED A PEACE IN 1973 THAT WE SIMPLY THREW AWAY IN 1975.

Sure, we were weary of war. But one lesson from 1973 bombing campaign was that we could definitely impact North Vietnam if we hit them where it really hurt - Hanoi.

We didnt lose Vietnam, so much as we squandered the peace that we gained through much sacrifice. And for that, blame completely the Ted Kennedy's and John Kerry's of the world.