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Afghanistan
Could there be a Tet Offensive in Afghanistan?
2010-12-17
George Will is one of the best handwringers out there, and he's in fine form with his worry of the day, that the Taliban might go Tet on us in Pashtunistan.

I could only hope that they do.

Mr. Will doesn't recall the history of Tet: after Tet, the Viet Cong was done as a fighting force, because most Cong cadres were door-knocker dead. It was the North Vietnamese Army that had to carry the fight to us after Tet.

Given that the Talibunnies have only Pakistan, and not China and the Soviet Union, to help them, I wish for a Tet.

Though the American left is the same today as in 1968, if not worse.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  interesting that John F'n Kerry (D-Pretentious Asshole) has a place in both debacles. His history is one of anti-American political actions. We should make sure that future children learn his name along with Benedict Arnold, Jonathan Pollard, and the Rosenbergs
Posted by: Frank G   2010-12-17 23:10  

#7  Won battle. Lost war.

I thought our armed forces won the war, then Congress threw away the peace?
Posted by: trailing wife   2010-12-17 23:03  

#6  Won battle. Lost war.
Posted by: Highlander   2010-12-17 18:22  

#5  I suspect American troops and equipment are better now than during Tet although our faith in the local government is equally low and that's where Tet really hit us.
Posted by: Rjschwarz   2010-12-17 14:27  

#4  Tet sucked royally for our guys

Tet is Lunar New Year. As somebody said, like Christmas, New Year's and your birthday all rolled into one. There was also a cease-fire in effect at the time, something that gets overlooked. As Dr. Steve points out, the VC not only lost but were no longer able to fight due to losses. Lucky for them, Walter Cronkite managed to spin it as an American defeat.
Posted by: SteveS   2010-12-17 14:11  

#3  A hallmark of the Vietnam war that is seldom mentioned is that it is almost unique in modern war, because neither side would massively concentrate their forces.

When the North would try even a relatively small concentration, the US would use helicopters to transport a lot of personnel quickly for a counter-concentration.

The US learned early on (Battles of Ia Drang) that if it concentrated too many, it was just as vulnerable to a large scale attack on that concentration.

There has been some suggestion that the Viet Cong had become almost independent of the North, based on backing from either the Soviet Union or China, so the North egged them on to pulling Tet, as a win-win for the North, of either the VC taking over the South, or being wiped out in the process.

The bad blood between the Soviet backed North and China remained after the war, as seen in the invasion of Cambodia to displace the Maoist Khmer Rouge, or the head to head border fight with the Chinese army.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-12-17 13:58  

#2  The Tet Offensive won the war for the VC. Won't be necessary in Afghanistan. Obama has already declared his intentions of cut and run starting in 2011.
Posted by: wr   2010-12-17 13:22  

#1  Tet sucked royally for our guys, who were caught by surprise because our leadership had been busily blabbing about how well we were doing and how the enemy was virtually finished. Then Hue etc. destroyed their credibility. As always, our soldiers quickly adapted, and by the time they were done Tet sucked a whole lot more for the VC than us. But none of it mattered, because we the people were told by our elite that we couldn't win, so instead we spent how many more lives trying to lose with honor. If it's not worth fighting to win, is it worth fighting at all? Regardless of anything about honor.
Posted by: Glenmore   2010-12-17 12:50  

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