(01-31-2018 11:00 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote: McNamara told LBJ in 1965 there was no way the war could be won.
Another example of how McNamara was wrong about almost everything.
McNamara was a nominal Republican, and JFK appointed him as SecDef because of his (McNamara's) connections to America’s corporate leadership, which was in those days (1960) overwhelmingly Republican. But the selection turned out to be an absolutely unmitigated disaster.
As for the Tet Offensive, it should be noted that every engagement of the battle came out in favor of the US/RVN side. It’s just, we had no idea the enemy was capable of launching such an offensive, even if it did end in failure. So the shock value of the whole thing was very high in US media.
I still remember a certain lecture at Tulane. The professor was probably about 45-50 (if so, born about 1940-45) and was talking about the Tet Offensive. He seemed to gradually realize that none of us 18-20 year olds in the audience had any idea what he was referring to. The mixture of disbelief-annoyance-frustration that came over him was a joy to behold.
But what can you say. Time does march on. I was talking to to a 16-year-old (a bright kid, but still: 16) a few weeks ago and said something about 9/11. She looked blank and I had to explain what that was.