IT WAS THE FAILURE, in fact, to DEMONIZE the enemy that lulled the American public into failing to take this war seriously . . . as a WAR. Lyndon Johnson NEVER made any speeches characterizing Ho Chi Minh as Hitler (the way Bush did with Hussein); there was no at-home propaganda effort to demonize the communists; and there was very little of a public relations offensive against the North itself as "evil."
NOTE THE DIFFERENCE with our current Commander in Chief, who has rightly noted that our enemies are "evil." Now, if the North Viets were not evil (I could ask, why did they leave heads on sticks outside villages?), then we should not have been there. But if it was important enough that we were there, then it should have been important enough to give our troops EVERY advantage, including psychological and propaganda.
To me, this is the most important element missing in both "Siege" and "We Were Soldiers." Everything else, in both movies, was powerful, moving, and realistic. But there has to be more of a reason to kill other men than just "we were fighting for each other." If that's the case, then there is no difference between us and the Somalis in "Black Hawk Down" or, hell, for that matter, the Nazis in "Saving Private Ryan." No, the fact is, we do fight for countries and ideas and patriotism and faith and right. And as Victor Hanson shows in his great new book, it is specifically THESE elements that make the "western way of war" different.
...Instead of the American People getting an Axis of Evil proclamation from our Preisdent about the Evil Communist North Vietnam...
...it got Liberal LIAR WALTER CRONKITE telling US they weren't every night on National TV.
...And a Evil lying North Vietnam telling us that not one single North Vietnamese Trooper was in the South.
Great Post, LS.
NEVER FORGET