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The first self deception involved the Cuban Missile Crisis and what won the day. Although he filled many roles, his hand in this matter was that of a careerist and courtier, not a military professional. Much of this topic was covered initially in the classic "The Best and the Brightest," but this study by BGEN McMaster provides an insightful understanding military strategy, a quality that was singularly lacking in the Kennedy or Johnson administration in the run up to Vietnam, particularly at the policy making level which was engaging in an eccentric reasoning process to determine the appropriate response. Since North Vietnam was willing to sustain all manner of losses for the sake of unification, it is not clear what this graduated response would accomplish except demonstrate weakness and a lack of resolve. This is probably the best and most insightful book on how the US became involved in Vietnam and has lessons for any and all subsequent administrations on the establishment of policy.
There are few people in government service who are as impressive as General McMaster. Because this area was out of the field of vision of the Green Zone trolls and more importantly the Secretary of Defense and the Neo-Cons, he was wildly successful. Another questionable advisor was Max Taylor who trimmed his sails not to suit new realities, but new masters. During Iraqi Freedom, he was the author of the notion of clear, hold, and build (which was successful implemented in the Northern portion of the Sunni triangle. The only thing that MacNamara understood less than military affairs was diplomacy. General McMaster first came to my notice during Desert Storm when as a major he led a very successful engagement involving US tank forces. MacNamara thought that graduated pressure had done the trick, but really he had no understanding of military affairs. While the parochialism of the various service chiefs undermined the effectiveness of JCS, there were problems that were personality driven that also limited the ability to make a meaningful contribution.
The great object lesson here is that while deception is hardly praise-worthy, self deception is worse because it is just plain dumb. The Joint Chiefs who were effectively sidelined from any policy making role were also culpable, but for a variety of other different reasons. This book is worth reading by anyone interested in military affairs. The correct answer is that Washington and Moscow did a missile swap and concluded an agreement on the basis of common interests. He believed that by gradually ramping up the response to the Vietcong and Hanoi that he could produce a settlement in which a viable South Vietnam was allowed to exist (although South Vietnam's greatest enemy was always itself).
His refusal to lead and the basis of his decision making is what led to the problems in Vietnam as well as the questionable strategy of using body counts as a means of measuring the success of the search and destroy tactics employed by the U.S. It is also why the vice presidential candidate's qualifications are important as well. I was a little girl during the 1960s. I remember watching the evening news and hoping I would not see my Daddy on the tv screen.I was confused why people would say American soldiers were bad and President Johnson was a "criminal." As a little girl, my Daddy of course was good and so were the other soldiers. This book is a clear argument of why Americans need to place ability to be commander-in-chief high on the list of items to consider when voting for president. Sure, Lt. But this was not normal per se.The villain WAS LBJ.
LBJ may not have been a war criminal in the strictest sense of the word, but what he did to the American people, the American Military and the Vietnamese people all because he wanted to be a great liberal domestic icon WAS criminal. The book will make you angry if you have any sense of justice.
So this was a bit confusing to me as a child.As an adult I am angered by the comments that were made about the Vietnam vets. I had heard that this book influenced Donald Rumsfeld and I can understand why.
My father is a Vietnam Vet. Military.This book clearly shows what went wrong, not on the ground in Vietnam, but in the White House, with the Vietnam War.
LBJ should never have been president. And little kids think the President is good.
Kalley and the My Lai Massacre were an evil thing.
McMaster has done a superb job in research, compilation, and accuracy. Once again Amazon.com has fulfilled an immmediate need for my reading library. History repeats itself. A must read for anyone who wants to understand what happened during the Vietnam conflict and what we could potentially see today as we are embroiled in Afghanistan. Always on time, accurate and professional. H.R.
We got into the war and lost it because of the failure of the Joint Chiefs to do their job. The main point in a guerrilla war is to protect the populaion----body count is very much the wrong way to think. Not the most elegant or flowing prose, but the author depicts over and over again the passivity and parochialism of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the duplicity of Robert McNamara, as we slid into a major war. Left unsaid is that the stratagy and tactics for fighting the war were almost the exact reverse of what was needed.
Every member of Congress should read this book. McNamara lied to Congress. Anyone who believes that those who "serve" in government do not lie should read this book. One quick example of how during the build-up to our all-out-entry into Vietnam following Lyndon B.
And it may be a mirror to what is now going on with the bailout/rescue/pump plans being formulated and, perhaps, implemented. McMaster relates: "Although he had just received a briefing to the contrary, Secretary McNamara" told congressional leaders "that `U.S. With few exceptions, they will do and say anything to get and keep their office, whether elected or appointed."Dereliction of Duty" is a great book. "Dereliction of Duty" underscores the reality that very few folks, irrespective of their résumés or positions, have the skills their responsibilities require. It is great not because it deals with the policy decisions underlying the Vietnam war and the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies, but because it opens-up and explores _how and who_ (in terms of why they were in position to make those decisions) made those policy decisions. Every person who fulfills his or her precious responsibility of voting should read this book.
soldiers are not engaged in combat except in the course of their training the Vietnamese.'" Many of those who endure the gauntlet of seeking and trying to retain public office do so for egocentric reasons--the accretion of power. It is also superbly written, making it a wonderful read. I regret that I did not read it when it first came out. Johnson's election in 1964 as the "peace candidate," Defense Secretary Robert S.
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