Walter Cronkite's Ridiculous Spin on the 1968 Tet Offensive in South Vietnam

[AZrailwhale]

Commanders who flee alway have parties willing to run them down. FDR had little choice than to rely on his oldest commanders to defend against Japan. What you have managed to accomplish with me is to see me studying him a lot more. At the end, we may both think alike. MacArthur would have been put to death by the Japanese and FDR saved him from extinction.

I doubt that, Wainwright survived the war. As far as I know the IJA never executed a captured flag officer.

 

[Robert W]

I doubt that, Wainwright survived the war. As far as I know the IJA never executed a captured flag officer.

I know he survived. I am not saying I am correct on them executing such high ranks. But I am not a fan of the Japanese war effort.

 

[Robert W]

No, Ike said HE WAS TOLD that Minh would win. How often have we seen our intelligence sources be wrong about even more critical facts than the probable results of an election.

I am included in Americans alive when Ike was a General and was fighting the Germans. I was a loyal Democrat and that meant me and my Democrat family did not like Ike at all as president. We were pleased he fought the Germans. I ask posters to buy a book I own. It is Called Vietnam a History by Stanley Karnow. It is 750 pages of that history.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

My previous comment misdated the Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam which was written by Hồ Chí Minh, and announced in public in Hanoi on September 2, 1945. It led to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, replacing the Nguyen dynasty. The similarity to the U.S. Declaration of Independence is notable and was quite intentional and politically calculated, aiming to win sympathy from the United States.

***

Compatriots of the entire nation assembled:

All people are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of the French Revolution made in 1791 also states: All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.

Those are undeniable truths.

Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French colonists, in the name of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice.

In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty.

They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, Center, and South of Vietnam in order to destroy our national unity and prevent our people from being united.

They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slaughtered our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in bloodbaths.

They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people.

To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol.

In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone, impoverished our people and devastated our land.

They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank notes and the export trade.

They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty.

They have hampered the prospering of our national bourgeoisie; they have mercilessly exploited our workers.

In the autumn of 1940, when the Japanese fascists violated Indochina's territory to establish new bases in their fight against the Allies, the French imperialists went down on their bended knees and handed over our country to them. Thus, from that date, our people were subjected to the double yoke of the French and the Japanese. Their sufferings and miseries increased. The result was that, from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, from Quảng Trị province to northern Vietnam, more than two million of our fellow citizens died from starvation.

On March 9 [1945], the French troops were disarmed by the Japanese. The French colonialists either fled or surrendered, showing that not only were they incapable of "protecting" us, but that, in the span of five years, they had twice sold our country to the Japanese.

On several occasions before March 9, the Việt Minh League urged the French to ally themselves with it against the Japanese. Instead of agreeing to this proposal, the French colonialists so intensified their terrorist activities against the Việt Minh members that before fleeing they massacred a great number of our political prisoners detained at Yên Bái and Cao Bằng.

Notwithstanding all this, our fellow citizens have always manifested toward the French a tolerant and humane attitude. Even after the Japanese Putsch of March 1945, the Việt Minh League helped many Frenchmen to cross the frontier, rescued some of them from Japanese jails, and protected French lives and property.

From the autumn of 1940, our country had in fact ceased to be a French colony and had become a Japanese possession. After the Japanese had surrendered to the Allies, our whole people rose to regain our national sovereignty and to found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The truth is that we have wrested our independence from the Japanese and not from the French.

The French have fled, the Japanese have capitulated, Emperor Bảo Đại has abdicated. Our people have broken the chains which for nearly a century have fettered them and have won independence for the Fatherland. Our people at the same time have overthrown the monarchic regime that has reigned supreme for dozens of centuries. In its place has been established the present Democratic Republic.

For these reasons, we, the members of the Provisional Government, representing the whole Vietnamese people, declare that from now on we break off all relations of a colonial character with France; we repeal all the international obligation that France has so far subscribed to on behalf of Viet-Nam, and we abolish all the special rights the French have unlawfully acquired in our Fatherland.

The whole Vietnamese people, animated by a common purpose, are determined to fight to the bitter end against any attempt by the French colonialists to reconquer the country.

We are convinced that the Allied nations, which at Tehran and San Francisco have acknowledged the principles of self-determination and equality of nations, will not refuse to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam.

A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eighty years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent!

For these reasons, we, the members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that:

Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country—and in fact it is so already. And thus the entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.

 

[Robert W]

My previous comment misdated the Declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam which was written by Hồ Chí Minh, and announced in public in Hanoi on September 2, 1945. It led to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, replacing the Nguyen dynasty. The similarity to the U.S. Declaration of Independence is notable and was quite intentional and politically calculated, aiming to win sympathy from the United States.

***

Compatriots of the entire nation assembled:

All people are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of the French Revolution made in 1791 also states: All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.

Those are undeniable truths.

Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French colonists, in the name of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice.

In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every democratic liberty.

They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, Center, and South of Vietnam in order to destroy our national unity and prevent our people from being united.

They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slaughtered our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in bloodbaths.

They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people.

To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol.

In the field of economics, they have fleeced us to the backbone, impoverished our people and devastated our land.

They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank notes and the export trade.

They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty.

They have hampered the prospering of our national bourgeoisie; they have mercilessly exploited our workers.

In the autumn of 1940, when the Japanese fascists violated Indochina's territory to establish new bases in their fight against the Allies, the French imperialists went down on their bended knees and handed over our country to them. Thus, from that date, our people were subjected to the double yoke of the French and the Japanese. Their sufferings and miseries increased. The result was that, from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, from Quảng Trị province to northern Vietnam, more than two million of our fellow citizens died from starvation.

On March 9 [1945], the French troops were disarmed by the Japanese. The French colonialists either fled or surrendered, showing that not only were they incapable of "protecting" us, but that, in the span of five years, they had twice sold our country to the Japanese.

On several occasions before March 9, the Việt Minh League urged the French to ally themselves with it against the Japanese. Instead of agreeing to this proposal, the French colonialists so intensified their terrorist activities against the Việt Minh members that before fleeing they massacred a great number of our political prisoners detained at Yên Bái and Cao Bằng.

Notwithstanding all this, our fellow citizens have always manifested toward the French a tolerant and humane attitude. Even after the Japanese Putsch of March 1945, the Việt Minh League helped many Frenchmen to cross the frontier, rescued some of them from Japanese jails, and protected French lives and property.

From the autumn of 1940, our country had in fact ceased to be a French colony and had become a Japanese possession. After the Japanese had surrendered to the Allies, our whole people rose to regain our national sovereignty and to found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The truth is that we have wrested our independence from the Japanese and not from the French.

The French have fled, the Japanese have capitulated, Emperor Bảo Đại has abdicated. Our people have broken the chains which for nearly a century have fettered them and have won independence for the Fatherland. Our people at the same time have overthrown the monarchic regime that has reigned supreme for dozens of centuries. In its place has been established the present Democratic Republic.

For these reasons, we, the members of the Provisional Government, representing the whole Vietnamese people, declare that from now on we break off all relations of a colonial character with France; we repeal all the international obligation that France has so far subscribed to on behalf of Viet-Nam, and we abolish all the special rights the French have unlawfully acquired in our Fatherland.

The whole Vietnamese people, animated by a common purpose, are determined to fight to the bitter end against any attempt by the French colonialists to reconquer the country.

We are convinced that the Allied nations, which at Tehran and San Francisco have acknowledged the principles of self-determination and equality of nations, will not refuse to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam.

A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eighty years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent!

For these reasons, we, the members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that:

Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country—and in fact it is so already. And thus the entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.

SOUTH VIETNAM​

The 1963 self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc.
The Geneva Accords were finalised in late July 1954. In theory, North and South Vietnam were to exist for two years as temporary transitional states. In reality, both had already begun to develop and consolidate into separate national entities. As this process unfolded the divisions between North and South Vietnam widened, reducing the likelihood of free national elections or successful reunification. The new rulers of South Vietnam were backed by the United States and their Western allies. These men, epitomised by the Christian prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem, presented themselves as aspiring democrats and capitalists. After fighting to remove the shackles of French colonialism, they claimed to desire a free and independent South Vietnam based on Western political and economic values. What unfolded under their leadership, however, was neither democratic or beneficial to most South Vietnamese people.
AD
Ngo Dinh Diem became the prime minister of South Vietnam in 1954, thanks largely to American manipulation. From the outset, Ngo faced considerable challenges from criminals and political opponents, particularly communist subversives still active in the southern provinces. Thousands of Viet Minh agents and guerrilla soldiers, most acting on orders from Hanoi, ignored the migration amnesty of 1954-55 and remained underground in South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, who doubted the 1956 elections would take place, described these agents as his “insurance”. Opposition to Ngo Dinh Diem could also be found in the military. In November 1954 a clique of officers, trained by and loyal to the French, attempted to remove Diem and install a Francophile military junta. Their coup was thwarted by Diem, with the help of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The continuation of the opium trade, another legacy of French colonialism, also encouraged warlords, organised crime and gangsterism.

 

[Hector12]

No, Ike said HE WAS TOLD that Minh would win. How often have we seen our intelligence sources be wrong about even more critical facts than the probable results of an election.

Eisenhower's advisers had the best estimate.

 

[Soupnazi630]

Excuses excuses. President Eisenhower said that Ho Chi Minh would win a fair election by a blowout.

Which is irrelevant.

Minh still refused to hold elections and launched a war of aggression and being popooular is not a justification for that

Cleary you are the one making excuese. he would have won , he would have won.

Not a valid excuse bit it is ALL you have. Like a rapist claiming his victim would have consented if he had bothered asking. Minh was the aggressor.

 

[Weatherman2020]

Imagine if shortly after the start of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, an American newsman had announced on TV that perhaps we needed to seek a negotiated end to WWII because the Germans had launched a massive attack that no one thought possible?

This is not too drastically different from what Walter Cronkite did on February 27, 1968, less than four weeks after the North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong subordinates launched their disastrous Tet Offensive on January 30. Here are the two most often-quoted statements from Cronkite's commentary:

To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.

But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could.

You would never guess from Cronkite's spin that the Communists had suffered a horrendous military defeat, suffering staggering losses while failing to seize nearly all of the towns and cities they had targeted (and the few places they did manage to seize were retaken in a matter of weeks).

We now know from North Vietnamese sources that the Tet Offensive was a desperate gamble that Hanoi's leaders took because they realized they were losing the war. Also, the North Vietnamese had assumed that once the offensive began, the majority of South Vietnamese would rise up and help them overthrow the Saigon government, but the vast majority of South Vietnamese remained loyal to their government.

Walter Cronkite and most of the rest of the news media turned the Communists' crushing military defeat into a key propaganda victory for the Communist war effort.

The Tet Offensive Revisited: Media's Big Lie

Yep. Had family there at the time. Basically a bunch of terrorists activated at a specific time.

Zero military impact.
Huge propaganda tool for the Left.

 

[Weatherman2020]

More of Mormon Mike's twisted history.

Here's why Tet should have been the end of Vietnam, instead of letting it drag on for another five bloody years.

Because at the end of the day, the NVA and Vietcong were able to launch an offensive with such effectiveness.

A comparison to the Battle of the Bulge is comparing apples and oranges. It had only been six months after D-Day and had already cleared the Axis from most of France, Italy, and the Low Countries while the USSR (which was doing most of the heavy lifting) had pushed the Axis out of the Balkans and were driving into Poland. Germany was finished and everyone knew it.

Now, compare that to our efforts in Vietnam. We had been propping up various Generals in the South since the 1963 coup, and 5 years later, the regime we were propping up had gained no support from the Vietnamese people. In short, all that blood and treasure spent, and we were nowhere near achieving our objectives. We were never going to invade North Vietnam as that would have brought Russia and China into the war. (And we all saw how well that went in Korea). Our own leaders admitted that if a real free election were held, Ho Chi Mihn would win easily because he was a bona fide national hero and the people we propped up were a bunch of French Quislings.

Both parties knew we were on a fool's errand, but neither party wanted to be accused of "losing Vietnam" the way that Truman was accused of "losing China".

And here we are today with Vietnam practicing Capitalism more than they were in 68.

 

[Hector12]

Which is irrelevant.

Minh still refused to hold elections and launched a war of aggression and being popooular is not a justification for that

Cleary you are the one making excuese. he would have won , he would have won.

Not a valid excuse bit it is ALL you have. Like a rapist claiming his victim would have consented if he had bothered asking. Minh was the aggressor.

What matters is that the vast majority of the Vietnamese wanted Ho Chi Minh to be their leader, and Vietnam was unimportant to our security or our economy.

Nevertheless, we devastated Vietnam and killed about two million Vietnamese. How was that justifiable?

If we cared about the Vietnamese who did not support Ho Chi Minh we should have evacuated them to the United States. I have known Vietnamese war refugees. They are good people.

 

[Deadstick]

What matters is that the vast majority of the Vietnamese wanted Ho Chi Minh to be their leader, and Vietnam was unimportant to our security or our economy.

Nevertheless, we devastated Vietnam and killed about two million Vietnamese. How was that justifiable?

If we cared about the Vietnamese who did not support Ho Chi Minh we should have evacuated them to the United States. I have known Vietnamese war refugees. They are good people.

Soupnazi is a complete space cadet, i have proved him wrong several times it was Diem who refused elections after Geneva, even quoting Diem himself, yet the clown still says it was Mihn he is a crackpot.

 

[Deadstick]

And here we are today with Vietnam practicing Capitalism more than they were in 68.

The point is whatever way they run their country it is their choice, not some violent Colonialist scum.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Both the RVN and the USA were members of SEATO. The government of the RVN requested aid from the other members and the USA, ROK and Australia complied with their treaty obligations sending equipment and combat troops.

Trick or Treaty

France, England, and Pakistan were also part of that treaty. Whatever reason they used to not go along with it could have been used by the American regime, too. Real Americans die; Chickenhawks' Daddies sign papers.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

If 80% percent of them wanted to be governed by Hitler, I would say so. But of course, that is a preposterous question. The vast majority of British subjects opposed Hitler.

Vietnamese Just Love to Kill White People

We didn't fight the Commuists to save the Vietnamese and we didn't fight the Nazis to save the Brits. You been manipulated into believing that Postmodern war is fought for humanitarian reasons. No war should sacrifice fighting men even for good people.

One of the stupidest accusations is that we didn't stop the Missing Links' two-way genocide in Rwanda. Multicultie traitors want Whites to die to save savages, the enemies of our species.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

The Sage of Main Street , you still have not answered my question. That question again: why were we in Vietnam? We lost that war big time, and losing did not cause all of us to go stark raving Communist.

The South Vietnamese Rulers and the American Rulers Lost in Vietnam, Not the GIs

America did not get conquered only because we took a stand in Vietnam. You've probably been lectured that the Crusades were also a failure. Not at all, they bought time for Europe to recover from the Dark Ages.

In fact, the Soviet Union got stuck in Afghanistan because the Communist Afghans could point to how much America was willing to sacrifice in Vietnam and wanted the same consideration.

 

[Hector12]

The South Vietnamese Rulers and the American Rulers Lost in Vietnam, Not the GIs

When American GIs fled Vietnam clinging to their helicopters it did not look like a victory parade.

 

[Hector12]

We didn't fight the Commuists to save the Vietnamese...

Then why did we fight the War in Vietnam?

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

She does not know she said. So why is this posted here today? She is calling her doctor father a criminal too. Sad to see a daughter pull this on her own father.

Before the HeirHeads Could Stab Us in the Back, They Had to Take Away Our Backbone

If the American people allow richkids special privileges, it's not Trump's fault for taking advantage of them. Besides, he was never a hawk so he couldn't be classified as a Chickenhawk.

 

[Robert W]

You shouldn't be in Korea, i already said why the Chinese got involved because they felt threatened by American forces arriving on their border, you keep making the same mistake like in Ukraine threatening the Russian border with Nato, WTF don't you just stay home?

I have said I spent time in Germany and Holland. I was a passenger on a military plane that landed at Scotland. But nope, not me. I was never in Korea. I am puzzled why you represent China here? My claim is against Biden for being in this yet telling Zelensky the only way he will help Zelensky fight. He won't deliver to Zelensky planes that Z asks him for. But he wants more money. A bad idea if yo do not plan to work with Ukraine to beat the invading Russians. Russia picked on the wrong country.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Then why did we fight the War in Vietnam?

Ask Poland