Masters of War Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era [Paperback]

This volume convincingly disproves the 'fighting with one hand tied behind our backs' explanation of America's defeat in Vietnam.Military Leadership and the Vietnam War convincingly disproves the claim that America's defeat in Vietnam was the result of a failure of will because national leaders forced the troops to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. Robert Buzzanco demonstrates that political leaders not the military brass, pressed for war there; that American policymakers always understood the problems and peril of war in Indochina; and that civil-military acrimony and the political desire to defer responsibility for Vietnam helped lead the United States into the war.Military Leadership and the Vietnam War convincingly disproves the claim that America's defeat in Vietnam was the result of a failure of will because national leaders forced the troops to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. Robert Buzzanco demonstrates that political leaders not the military brass, pressed for war there; that American policymakers always understood the problems and peril of war in Indochina; and that civil-military acrimony and the political desire to defer responsibility for Vietnam helped lead the United States into the war.Throughout the past decade, defenders of the U.S. role in Vietnam have argued that America's defeat was not the result of an illegitimate intervention or military shortcomings, but rather a failure of will because national leaders, principally Lyndon B. Johnson, forced the troops to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. In this volume, Robert Buzzanco disproves this theory by demonstrating that political leaders, not the military brass, pressed for war; that American policymakers always understood the problems and peril of war in Indochina; and that civil-military acrimony and the political desire to defer responsibility for Vietnam helped lead the United States into the war. For the first time, these crucial issues of military dilsn