Mark Moyar: Cited as one of the new wave of revisionist historians of Vietnam
... Mark Moyar, author of "Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954 –1965," is part of a new wave of historians challenging the leftist version. Now at work on a book that tells the story of the second half of the war, Mr. Moyar insists that an Easter Offensive-style bombing campaign would have at least delayed the defeat of South Vietnam for a significant period of time and perhaps even put the North Vietnamese on their heels for a while.
"In the offensive in 1975, the North Vietnamese are moving around huge conventional forces that would have been pulverized by our air power," Mr. Moyar told The New York Sun this week. From his study of the official North Vietnamese history of the war, he learned that the conquering forces were well aware of the effect of the congressional actions. "In 1974 fire support by tactical aircraft and artillery decreased 75 percent in comparison with 1972," he cited the history as saying.
Moreover, Mr. Moyar said the North Vietnamese only attempted their 1975 attack when convinced that America would not counter this violation of the Paris Agreement. He supplies the North Vietnamese Official History. The conquest of Phuoc Long in January 1975 served as "a kind of ‘strategic reconnaissance' for us. … The victory exposed the limited ability of the United States to react after the forced withdrawal of their expeditionary army from South Vietnam."
Mr. Kissinger had become aware of the North Vietnamese close-reading of American politics when he obtained an enemy document containing North Vietnamese instructions to their Viet Cong cadres in May of 1973. According to Mr. Kissinger's book, the document stated that Nixon's "weakened authority over the U.S. government is now generating a favorable influence in South Vietnam for the struggle of the NLF, and will result in a new U.S. policy in Indochina. Even if President Nixon remains in office … he will not dare to apply strong measures as air strikes or bombing attacks in either North or South Vietnam, because the U.S. Congress and the American people will violently object."...
Read entire article at Seth Gitell in the New York Sun
"In the offensive in 1975, the North Vietnamese are moving around huge conventional forces that would have been pulverized by our air power," Mr. Moyar told The New York Sun this week. From his study of the official North Vietnamese history of the war, he learned that the conquering forces were well aware of the effect of the congressional actions. "In 1974 fire support by tactical aircraft and artillery decreased 75 percent in comparison with 1972," he cited the history as saying.
Moreover, Mr. Moyar said the North Vietnamese only attempted their 1975 attack when convinced that America would not counter this violation of the Paris Agreement. He supplies the North Vietnamese Official History. The conquest of Phuoc Long in January 1975 served as "a kind of ‘strategic reconnaissance' for us. … The victory exposed the limited ability of the United States to react after the forced withdrawal of their expeditionary army from South Vietnam."
Mr. Kissinger had become aware of the North Vietnamese close-reading of American politics when he obtained an enemy document containing North Vietnamese instructions to their Viet Cong cadres in May of 1973. According to Mr. Kissinger's book, the document stated that Nixon's "weakened authority over the U.S. government is now generating a favorable influence in South Vietnam for the struggle of the NLF, and will result in a new U.S. policy in Indochina. Even if President Nixon remains in office … he will not dare to apply strong measures as air strikes or bombing attacks in either North or South Vietnam, because the U.S. Congress and the American people will violently object."...