01-20-2006, 08:37 PM
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#73 (permalink)
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Cunning Runt
Location: Taking a mulligan
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by shakran
Yes, and he was right, wasn't he? The job of a journalist is to report the truth, even if it upsets the warmongers. Vietnam was lost, and blaming it on cronkite is about as disingenuous as it gets. Vietnam was lost because our fighting strategy was appallingly stupid. Take a hill, then go away, wait for the VC to take it back, then go take it again. Who the hell came up with that? Sure as hell it was lost before we even got into it.
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Coming from someone who claims to be a "journalist," or at least to be affiliated with it, your statement is downright appalling.
Wikipedia on the Tet Offensive
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The Tet Offensive (January 30, 1968–1969) was a series of operational offensives during the Vietnam War, coordinated between battalion strength elements of the National Liberation Front's People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF) or "Viet Cong" and divisional strength elements of the North Vietnam's People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), against South Vietnam's Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and United States military and other ARVN-allied forces. The operations are called the Tet Offensive as they were timed to begin on the night of January 30–31, 1968, Tết Nguyên Đán (the lunar new year day). The offensive began spectacularly during celebrations of the Lunar New Year, and sporadic operations associated with the offensive continued into 1969.
The Tet Offensive resulted in a crushing operational defeat for the Vietnamese, crippling the PLAF. The Tet Offensive is widely seen, though perhaps incorrectly, as a turning point of the war in Vietnam, in which the NLF and PAVN won an enormous psychological and propaganda victory leading to the loss of popular support for the War in the United States and the eventual withdrawal of American troops.
Neither the NLF nor PAVN achieved any of their strategic goals, and the operational cost of the offensive was dangerously high. Additionally, while US public opinion polls continued to support American involvement in the war, the US public was increasingly critical of Lyndon Johnson's particular war policies. Perhaps the group most affected by the offensive was the Nguyễn Văn Thiệu government in the Republic of Vietnam, whose military and political reliance on the United States was demonstrated to the majority of the Republic's population. The Tet Offensive is frequently seen as a example of the value of propaganda and media influence in the pursuit of military objectives.
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"Wait", you say. "Wikipedia is full of shit when it disagrees with me."
Another view
Quote:
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a series of battles in the Vietnam War. It was a major offensive by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC or NLF) beginning on the night of January 30-31, 1968, T?t Nguyên Đán (the lunar new year day). It involved military action in almost every major city in southern Vietnam and attacks on the US firebase at Khe Sanh. The NVA suffered a heavy military defeat but scored a priceless propaganda victory.
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__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher
Last edited by Marvelous Marv; 01-20-2006 at 08:48 PM..
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