The Greatest Generation?
Former US Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara has died. I hope that he rests in peace and that God has mercy on his soul. However, while he was alive, he certainly made some interesting choices, some of which had disastrous results.
Heralded as the "architect of the Vietnam War" under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, McNamara attempted to win a conflict without really waging war and without applying the lessons he should have learned from World War II and the Korean War. He oversaw America's escalation in Vietnam from less than 1,000 advisers to more than 500,000 troops, and then limited the tactics of those troops. He also helped coordinate what was then the most massive bombing campaign in history, but then severely restricted the approved targets for those bombing raids. As a former officer in the WWII Army Air Corp, he should have known better. Perhaps, worst of all, he and his cohorts (namely, Kennedy and Johnson) refused to listen to their own military leaders who advised from the start that you had to move decisively against North Vietnam, that you couldn't just attempt to pacify South Vietnam and hope for a Korean War-type settlement, complete with a divided country and armed troops staring at each other across a demilitarized zone.
In spite of these hobbles placed upon the US military, hobbles that needlessly cost massive casualties, the troops still managed to win every major battle during the Vietnam War. They then saw their sacrifices go for naught because US political leaders failed to learn important lessons from earlier conflicts. Namely, they didn't learn that a military victory was only the first stage of a true victory; you then needed to also build a foreign government that was capable of governing and protecting itself. Until this latter part was completed, you had to keep combat troops on the ground even if it meant a commitment of decades, if not generations. Such were the lessons of World War II and the Korean War, lessons that our political leaders of the Vietnam War failed to apply.
Much has been made about the generation of Americans that endured the Great Depression and fought World War II. Journalist and writer Tom Brokaw has dubbed them the "Greatest Generation." And admittedly, that generation certainly showed grit, determination and fighting ability. However, it must be pointed out that the men who led our country to victory in World War II were not members of the Greatest Generation, but rather members of the earlier Victorian Generation. The truly great leaders - Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and (if you wish to add a half-American) Winston Churchill - came from that earlier generation. When the so-called Greatest Generation ultimately came to power, they largely dropped the ball when it came to waging war. They failed to lead us to victory. Among these I would include John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and, yes, Robert McNamara.
Heralded as the "architect of the Vietnam War" under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, McNamara attempted to win a conflict without really waging war and without applying the lessons he should have learned from World War II and the Korean War. He oversaw America's escalation in Vietnam from less than 1,000 advisers to more than 500,000 troops, and then limited the tactics of those troops. He also helped coordinate what was then the most massive bombing campaign in history, but then severely restricted the approved targets for those bombing raids. As a former officer in the WWII Army Air Corp, he should have known better. Perhaps, worst of all, he and his cohorts (namely, Kennedy and Johnson) refused to listen to their own military leaders who advised from the start that you had to move decisively against North Vietnam, that you couldn't just attempt to pacify South Vietnam and hope for a Korean War-type settlement, complete with a divided country and armed troops staring at each other across a demilitarized zone.
In spite of these hobbles placed upon the US military, hobbles that needlessly cost massive casualties, the troops still managed to win every major battle during the Vietnam War. They then saw their sacrifices go for naught because US political leaders failed to learn important lessons from earlier conflicts. Namely, they didn't learn that a military victory was only the first stage of a true victory; you then needed to also build a foreign government that was capable of governing and protecting itself. Until this latter part was completed, you had to keep combat troops on the ground even if it meant a commitment of decades, if not generations. Such were the lessons of World War II and the Korean War, lessons that our political leaders of the Vietnam War failed to apply.
Much has been made about the generation of Americans that endured the Great Depression and fought World War II. Journalist and writer Tom Brokaw has dubbed them the "Greatest Generation." And admittedly, that generation certainly showed grit, determination and fighting ability. However, it must be pointed out that the men who led our country to victory in World War II were not members of the Greatest Generation, but rather members of the earlier Victorian Generation. The truly great leaders - Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and (if you wish to add a half-American) Winston Churchill - came from that earlier generation. When the so-called Greatest Generation ultimately came to power, they largely dropped the ball when it came to waging war. They failed to lead us to victory. Among these I would include John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and, yes, Robert McNamara.
posted by dlh | 6:58 AM
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