The most relevant statement I could find that is actually attributable to General Giap was uttered in a 1989 interview with Morley Safer, as excerpted in The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations by Howard Langer (Greenwood Press, 2005, p. 318):
"We paid a high price (during the Tet offensive) but so did you [Americans) . . . not only in lives and materiel . . . Do not forget the war was brought into the living rooms of the American people . . . The most important result of the Tet offensive was it made you de-escalate the bombing, and it brought you to the negotiation table. It was, therefore, a victory . . ."
The war was fought on many fronts. At that time the most important one was American public opinion.
. . . and that's about the last word I want to dedicate to the matter - we've already given more than enough free publicity to a guy whose uniform features red stars, sickles and hammers - S.L.
Friday Bird HERE
.
Sean, we can all debate whether General Giap actually said the words in dispute. The inherent fact is that the "quote" is exactly what happened.
ReplyDeleteYup. Regardless of the exact quote, the results are the results.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy