The AP story about John McCain’s fears of a “Tet Offensive” in Iraq was so close to the truth, but the writer, Bob Lewis, failed to capture the why this potential exists.
McCain fears ‘Tet Offensive’ in Iraq
By the way, a lot of us are also very concerned about the possibility of a, quote, ‘Tet Offensive.’ You know, some large-scale tact that could then switch American public opinion the way that the Tet Offensive did,” the Arizona senator said.
McCain made his comment in explaining why he did not believe the Bush administration should set a date by which it should deem Bush’s troop increase a success or a failure.
“I think that it should be publicly open-ended because I think that if you set a date, that there’s every possibility that the insurgents would just lay back and wait until we leave,” McCain said.
Tet, a massive invasion in 1968 of South Vietnam by Communist North Vietnamese, inflicted enormous losses on U.S. and South Vietnamese troops and is regarded as a point where public sentiment turned sharply against the war.
Factual to a point, but missing critical facts that should be considered when assessing the current situation because we have failed to learn one of the key lessons of Vietnam: the enemy feeds upon the anti-war rhetoric of left-wing politicians, celebrities and media outlets, bolstering their morale and proving to them that the path to victory in any war with the United States is simply a matter of waiting for the left-wing propaganda machine to convince the rest of the country that we’ve already lost and need to surrender.
It can not be a good sign that Jane Fonda is back in action; how encouraging this must be to al Qaieda to know that Hanoi Jane herself is ready, willing and able to stand as a beacon of hope to all who oppose the United States.
So, let’s fill in a few blanks about the Tet Offensive:
From Wikipedia: The Tet offensive was a tactical defeat for the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, but it inflicted severe damage on American civilian morale and contributed to the withdrawal American forces from the country.
Compare to the Bob Lewis article:
Tet, a massive invasion in 1968 of South Vietnam by Communist North Vietnamese, inflicted enormous losses on U.S. and South Vietnamese troops and is regarded as a point where public sentiment turned sharply against the war.
Hmmm… where’s the part about this being a defeat for the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces? If you knew nothing about the Tet Offensive, you would be inclined to believe this was a major victory for the North Vietnamese. In one way, I suppose it was. Because of people like Jane Fonda lying to the American people, victory turned into defeat. More from Wikipedia (bold mine)
The Tet Offensive can be considered a military defeat for the Communist forces, as neither the Viet Cong nor the North Vietnamese army achieved their tactical goals. Furthermore, the operational cost of the offensive was dangerously high, with the Viet Cong essentially crippled by the huge losses inflicted by South Vietnamese and other Allied forces. Nevertheless, the Offensive is widely considered a turning point of the war in Vietnam, with the NLF and PAVN winning an enormous psychological and propaganda victory. The Viet Cong’s operational forces were effectively crippled by the Offensive. Many Viet Cong who had been operating under cover in the cities of South Vietnam revealed themselves during the Offensive and were killed or captured. The organization was preserved for propaganda purposes, but in practical terms the Viet Cong were finished. [...]
The Communist high command did not anticipate the psychological effect the Tet Offensive would have on America. For example, the attack on the U.S. Embassy was allocated only 19 Viet Cong soldiers, and even the expenditure of this force was considered by some VC officers to be misguided. Only after they saw how the U.S. was reacting to this attack did the Communists begin to propagandize it. [...]
Although US public opinion polls continued to show a majority supporting involvement in the war, this support continued to deteriorate and the nation became increasingly polarized over the war. President Lyndon Johnson saw his popularity fall sharply after the Offensive, and he withdrew as a candidate for re-election in March of 1968. The Tet Offensive is frequently seen as an example of the value of media influence and popular opinion in the pursuit of military objectives.
There are many lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War.
One we appear to have missed, although al Qaieda has learned it well, is that we can count on the press and the Far Left loons to do everything they can to erode support for the United States, ensuring that a persistent enemy, who can outlast the support for the war by the American people, is virtually assured of a victory courtesy of the Left-Wing propaganda machine. And yet, here we are again, being fed daily doses of negative opinions disguised as news reporting, and believing our only hope is to set a date to “redeploy”…
One major difference… with Vietnam, the enemy wasn’t planning to continue the fight here at home…
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