[Leica] Did a Single Photograph or Two Stop the War In Viet Nam?

[bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)]

Little reality check here - LBJ withdrew in 1968 because the American
public had turned against the war;
Nixon beat Humphrey with a "secret plan to end the war."

The war was unwinable in a geopolitical sense, even if it had been
"winable" in a technical military sense. Yes, despite the way it played
in the media, the Tet offensive was a military defeat for the
communists. But what the U.S. never seemed to understand, and some
people still fail to understand today, was that the war was not a
traditional military conflict - and could not be "won" with a
traditional military victory.

B. D.

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Marc James Small
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 11:24 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Did a Single Photograph or Two Stop the War In Viet
Nam?


At 07:44 PM 5/10/04 -0400, Buzz Hausner wrote:
>I gasp in disbelief that Marc Small should only be partly correct in 
>his analysis.  What really brought American opinion to view the War in 
>Viet Nam with revulsion was not the action of the students...indeed, I 
>was an active protester...it was our mothers who finally stood up and 
>said (in essence), "Hell, No!  Not with my boy you don't"  It wasn't 
>photographs of terrified, naked children, nor of Vietnamese 
>executioners that caused our mothers' to wonder for what their sons 
>died, it was the broadcast news film and tape of Americans fighting in 
>the jungles, Americans screaming in pain, and Americans coming home 
>dead.
==========================

Buzz

I am sorry to add to your repiratory ailments, but read the Gallup and
Harris polls in 1974 and 1975:  there was a positive and decided
majoirty in favor of "winning" the Viet-Nam War, whatever that meant;.

My own mother and father wished that I would go to Viet-Nam, and my
father
went to his grave regretting that I was "denied" the opportunity.   I
chose
my own pace:  by the time I was commissioned, they were pulling all the
troops back, so I missed this epic opportunity to particpate in a war in
which I did not believe.

Marc

msmall@infionline.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!



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