DATE=5/14/99
TYPE=NEWS FEATURE
NUMBER=5-43410
TITLE=LESSONS OF VIETNAM
BYLINE=JULIE SHAW
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
(VOICED BY LARRY FREUND)
INTRO: A NEW BOOK ON THE VIETNAM WAR BY FORMER U-S DEFENSE
SECRETARY ROBERT MCNAMARA SAYS THE AMERICAN AND NORTH VIETNAMESE
GOVERNMENTS MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO AVOID THE WAR OR END IT
EARLIER. V-O-A'S JULIE SHAW REPORTS FROM NEW YORK.
TEXT: ROBERT MCNAMARA WAS THE U-S DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER
PRESIDENTS KENNEDY AND JOHNSON FROM 1961 TO 1968. IN HIS NEW
BOOK, HE CONCLUDES THAT MISUNDERSTANDINGS BETWEEN THE U-S AND
NORTH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENTS PROLONGED THE VIETNAM WAR.
HIS BOOK -- "ARGUMENT WITHOUT END" -- IS SUBTITLED "IN SEARCH OF
ANSWERS TO THE VIETNAM TRAGEDY." IT IS THE FIRST U-S PUBLISHED
BOOK ON VIETNAM THAT INCLUDES VIEWS FROM OFFICIALS OF WHAT WAS
THEN NORTH VIETNAM. MR. MCNAMARA AND HIS CO-AUTHORS -- PROFESSOR
JAMES BLIGHT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSOR ROBERT BRIGHAM OF
VASSAR COLLEGE -- BEGAN THEIR PROJECT IN 1995.
AT A DISCUSSION OF HIS BOOK AT THE ASIA SOCIETY IN NEW YORK, MR.
MCNAMARA EXPLAINED THE IDEA THAT DROVE HIM TO WRITE THE BOOK.
/// MCNAMARA ACT ///
THERE WAS REASON TO THINK, EACH OF US -- THEY, THE NORTH
VIETNAMESE, AND WE, THE U-S -- COULD EITHER HAVE AVOIDED
THE WAR ENTIRELY OR TERMINATED IT ON ANY ONE OF A NUMBER
OF OCCASIONS, WITH TREMENDOUS SAVINGS IN LIVES LOST,
WITHOUT THE TERRIBLE DISRUPTION TO EACH OF OUR
SOCIETIES, AND WITHOUT ANY CHANGE IN OUR ENDING
GEOPOLITICAL POSITION. THAT WAS MY HYPOTHESIS. AND IT
WAS BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF WHAT I CALLED "MISSED
OPPORTUNITIES" -- OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE STOPPED THE WAR
OR PREVENTED THE WAR, A WHOLE SERIES OF THEM.
/// END ACT ///
THEREFORE, SAID MR. MCNAMARA, THE NORTH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT
COULD HAVE UNIFIED VIETNAM AND THE UNITED STATES COULD HAVE
PREVENTED THE FALL OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES TO COMMUNISM --
THE SO-CALLED DOMINO THEORY -- WITHOUT SUFFERING THROUGH THE WAR.
ONE OF THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, SAYS CO-AUTHOR ROBERT BRIGHAM,
WAS IN DECEMBER 1965 WHEN DEFENSE SECRETARY MCNAMARA CONVINCED
PRESIDENT JOHNSON TO ALLOW A 37-DAY PAUSE IN U-S BOMBING IN NORTH
VIETNAM. THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST PARTY WAS ALSO DEBATING WHAT TO
DO. SOME SOUTHERN COMMUNISTS, SAYS MR. BRIGHAM, THOUGHT THEY
COULD WIN THE WAR WITH A FULL-SCALE MILITARY EFFORT. HOWEVER,
NORTHERN COMMUNISTS WERE PUSHING FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE
AMERICANS. BUT, NEGOTIATIONS NEVER HAPPENED.
/// BRIGHAM ACT ///
THE IRONY HERE, IT'S TRAGIC AND TREMENDOUS. BOTH SIDES,
EVENTUALLY IN THE SAME YEAR, IN THE SAME TIME, COMMIT
THEMSELVES TO A PROTRACTED WAR, TO A STRATEGY OF
ATTRITION. THERE IS NO FACE-TO-FACE CONSULTATION BETWEEN
HANOI AND WASHINGTON FROM 1961 UNTIL 1968, AT THE
HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A
WONDERFUL TIME IN THOSE 37 DAYS TO HAVE A PROBE AT THE
HIGHEST LEVELS.
/// END ACT ///
MR. MCNAMARA SAYS ONE OF HIS MOST SURPRISING FINDS IN HIS
RESEARCH OF DOCUMENTS FROM THE U-S NATIONAL ARCHIVES WAS A MEMO
BY THEN DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, RICHARD
HELMS. THE MEMO, WRITTEN IN SEPTEMBER 1967, CONCLUDED THAT THE
UNITED STATES COULD HAVE WITHDRAWN ITS TROOPS FROM VIETNAM
WITHOUT ANY SIGNIFICANT SECURITY EFFECTS. AT THAT TIME, THIS VIEW
WAS CONTRARY TO THE DOMINANT U-S GOVERNMENT POSITION. BUT THE
MEMO BY C-I-A DIRECTOR HELMS WAS NEVER DISTRIBUTED. MR. MCNAMARA,
WHO ONLY RECENTLY DISCOVERED THE DOCUMENT, FIRST REFERRED TO IT
IN HIS 1995 BOOK ENTITLED "IN RETROSPECT."
/// MCNAMARA ACT ///
IN THIS MEMORANDUM, A 30-PAGE MEMO, HE REFLECTS THE
JUDGMENTS OF THE EXPERTS -- I THINK HE SAID THERE WERE
32 EXPERTS -- THAT THE C-I-A DREW TOGETHER TO PREPARE
THIS MEMO. THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE MEMORANDUM SAYS:
"THERE WILL BE SOME CRITICISM. THERE WILL BE SOME
ADVERSE IMPACT ON OUR SECURITY. BUT NO SUBSTANTIALLY
ADVERSE EFFECT ON THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES OR
THE SECURITY OF THE WEST IF WE WITHDRAW IN DEFEAT."
/// END ACT ///
MR. MCNAMARA SAYS THERE WERE SEVERAL OPENINGS FOR NEGOTIATION
THAT WERE MISSED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR. HE HOPES THAT HIS NEW
BOOK, ENTITLED "ARGUMENT WITHOUT END," WILL TEACH LESSONS TO
AVOID FUTURE CONFLICTS.
THE U-S GOVERNMENT, HE SUGGESTS, NEEDS TO REORGANIZE ITS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH TO BE MORE OPEN TO NEGOTIATION. THERE WAS NOT
ONE SENIOR AMERICAN OFFICIAL, HE SAYS, DEDICATED 100 PERCENT OF
THE TIME TO EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES FOR NEGOTIATION DURING THE
VIETNAM WAR. AND ALTHOUGH THE FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY EMPHASIZES
THAT HE DOES NOT BLAME THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION FOR THE CURRENT
FIGHTING IN KOSOVO, MR. MCNAMARA SAYS THERE IS NO ONE IN THE
PRESENT U-S GOVERNMENT DEDICATED 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME TO
SEEKING AVENUES FOR NEGOTIATION. (SIGNED)
NEB/NY/JS/LSF/GE
14-May-99 1:30 PM EDT (1730 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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