550010

How the Tet Offensive Undermined American Faith in Government

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/how-the-tet-offensive-undermined-american-faith-in-government/550010/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb%201.16.2018&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief#article-comments

So, buried in the text of your anniversary tome on Tet are the infamous words of Walter Cronkite, that the war could not be won. That was the nail in the coffin. Cronkite had more power than anyone in the US at the time, and America believed every single word out of his mouth. The truth is more elusive on Tet. The fact is the enemy had bet everything on ending the war when they attacked and overran 100 cities and province capitals. The US overwhelmingly counter attacked and won ever town back. It was at that point that if the US had followed up those victories with a relentless push the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong could have been defeated once and for all. Instead, Cronkite's self-fulfilling prophecy took hold along with Vietnamization. We were led to believe the war could not be won because Walter Cronkite said so. The American people believed him and the politicians had no where to go but out. That is the missing story on your pages. In the end, when political and military goals are different, we fail. When they are the same (WWII), we win.