‘Kissinger’s Betrayal’: New Book Explains Why South Vietnam Fell
Commentary
Analyses of the U.S. failure in Vietnam seem to have a target-rich environment for obloquy and blame for strategic malpractice. There are two fundamental debates: first, whether the United States could have won the conflict; second, who was to blame for the loss.
Often blamed are President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara for their conduct of the war, U.S. General William Westmoreland for his strategy from 1964–1968, or Congress for denying funding for U.S. involvement after 1973. Others tout the purported military effectiveness of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the alleged paucity of the effectiveness of the Army of Vietnam (ARVN), the lack of U.S. resolve, the anti-war movement on the U.S. homefront, or the determination of North Vietnamese government….