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1c90f26 Two hundred and fifty American marines and soldiers were killed, and 1,554 wounded.75 Another 458 ARVN soldiers were killed and an estimated 2,700 wounded. The Front's losses are estimated to have been between 2,400 and 5,000--the difference between the official counts of both sides, both known to lie about such numbers. When Mark Bowden
d2a95a5 From the perspective of nearly half a century, the Battle of Hue and the entire Vietnam War seem a tragic and meaningless waste. So much heroism and slaughter for a cause that now seems dated and nearly irrelevant. The whole painful experience ought to have (but has not) taught Americans to cultivate deep regional knowledge in the practice of foreign policy, and to avoid being led by ideology instead of understanding. The United States shou.. Mark Bowden
b77bd5a the final toll of the Battle of Hue numbers well over ten thousand, making it by far the bloodiest of the Vietnam War. Mark Bowden
d458a26 The whole experience ought to have (but has not) taught Americans to cultivate deep regional knowledge in the practice of foreign policy, and to avoid being led by ideology instead of understanding. The United States should interact with other nations realistically, not on the basis of domestic political priorities. Very often the problems in distant lands have little or nothing to do with America's ideological preoccupations. Beware of men.. vietnam-war Mark Bowden
e675218 While in the United States and Europe "revolution" was an excuse to sell pop music, stage protests, and hold festivals, it was being played for keeps in Asia. Young people were not just challenging their elders but pushing them aside, expelling, imprisoning, and in many cases executing them, all the while extolling the young as the righteous vanguard, their very youth a badge of purity. They were, by definition, forward-thinking. And in Hue.. Mark Bowden
999baf8 attacks." George Romney, the governor of Michigan and a Republican candidate for president, told newspaper editors, "If what we have seen in the past week is a Viet Cong failure, then I hope they never have a victory."25 On" Mark Bowden
2817e40 although it is true that after three weeks of heavy fighting the enemy was driven off, it was the impact of the initial blow that resonated most loudly. Mark Bowden
40418f0 And while each death would echo loudly halfway around the world, hurling families and even whole communities into grief, often with shattering consequences for generations, in Hue there wasn't even time to stop and look, much less grieve. Mark Bowden
92fcdf0 One of its analysts was Daniel Ellsberg, who at the time was back in the States compiling the report that--after he leaked it to the press in 1971--would become known as The Pentagon Papers. The study showed that American leaders had been systematically lying about the scope and progress of the war for years and had consistently enlarged it despite doubts that the effort could succeed. Mark Bowden
ce8cb86 They were called Ontos, after the Greek word for "thing," in part because they were ugly." weapons Mark Bowden
73586cd Opposition to the war was becoming fashionable. Popular figures--intellectuals, athletes, musicians--stepped up to announce their opposition Mark Bowden
25d2c61 He was convinced that men lost their nerve in combat when they allowed themselves to think too much. The part movies never got right about war was all the waiting, and all the effort it took not to think. Mark Bowden
fb48961 Anything was better than waiting in that hole trying to figure out what to think about in his last moments on earth, waiting to be plumed or slaughtered. He'd rather die trying to live. Mark Bowden
91f366b In this peaceful city, during Tet, it was traditional to send cups of paper with lit candles floating down the Huong like flickering blossoms, prayers for health, for success, for the memory of loved ones away or departed, for success in business or in love, and perhaps for an end to the war and killing. It made a moving collective display, a vast flotilla of hope, many thousands of tiny flames. They would wind down the wide water without s.. Mark Bowden
42f385f Thomas Paine's The Crisis--"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country . . ." Mark Bowden
2f0a292 A secret Rand Corporation study for the Pentagon had concluded in 1966 that while the bombing had caused widespread hardship and even food shortages in the North, "there is, however, no evidence of critical or progressive deterioration or disruption of economic activity" Mark Bowden
b66d1a9 A CIA report completed in 1968 found similarly: "The war and the bombing have eroded the North Vietnamese economy, making the country increasingly dependent on foreign aid. However, because the country is at a comparatively primitive stage of development and because the bombing has been carried out under important restrictions, damage to the economy has been small." Mark Bowden
f00a58a The Americans had a wide range of feelings about it, but there is no question about their bravery and patriotism. In the worst days of this fight, facing the near certainty of death or severe bodily harm, those caught up in the Battle of Hue repeatedly advanced. Many of those who survived are still paying for it. To me the way they were used, particularly the way their idealism and loyalty were exploited by leaders who themselves had lost f.. Mark Bowden
7fc8ad2 The river's name, Huong, evokes the pleasing scent of incense or the pink and white petals that float downstream in autumn from orchards to the north. The Americans called it the Perfume River. Mark Bowden
8da4946 Leadership was partly showmanship, and Westy neglected no means of projecting confidence, strength, and moxie. Mark Bowden
6433ecc he was not the first general to welcome statistics he wanted to hear--but the numbers emerged from an intricate origami of war bureaucracy: South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and American. The truth was bent at every fold for reasons that went beyond propaganda to self-interest, sycophancy, and wishful thinking. Mark Bowden
188b3f5 But what if the death toll--which despite the distortions clearly favored the Americans--was having the opposite effect? What if heightened punishment by US bombs and guns actually fueled Communist resistance, inspiring ten recruits for every dead enemy fighter? Mark Bowden
fc2834d his days were reduced to trying to stay alive and not to disgrace himself. Mark Bowden
a5e7fea the entire rationale for fighting in Vietnam was rooted in faith. Faith that his elected leaders and military bosses knew what they were doing and that the calculation that had placed his life at such peril mattered, that it did more than just make sense but demanded his suffering and sacrifice. Mark Bowden
b9cc143 What mattered in combat, what really mattered, was not only understanding why you asked men to risk their lives, but making them understand. Men would willingly risk their lives, but they needed to know that it counted. And they needed to know they had a chance. Mark Bowden
9c6a06c Beware of men with theories that explain everything. Trust those who approach the world with humility and cautious insight. The Mark Bowden
dd5f2e3 hot vit lon, a local favorite, a duck embryo boiled and served inside the shell-- Mark Bowden
8a82a01 Richard Nixon was elected president mendaciously promising not victory, but a "secret plan" to bring the war to an "honorable end." The secret plan prolonged the conflict seven more years, spreading misery and death throughout Indochina. Nixon began gradually drawing down the number of Americans fighting there in 1969, and-- catastrophically, as it turned out-- began shifting the military burden to Saigon. General Abrams threw greater and .. Mark Bowden
7f0bb57 The Viet Cong were not the idealistic warriors of American antiwar propaganda; they were vicious. They relied on terror. Mark Bowden
0a1b1fd If there was one ideological rationale that had broad appeal, it was nationalism, which for many boiled down to a fervent desire to be left alone. Mark Bowden
d46fd17 The bar on business communication is set so low that there are almost no entry-level requirements other than being a living human being Mark Bowden
b4c5bcd Over four months in December 2008 and January, February, and March 2009, as Conficker assembled the largest botnet in the world, government, which would seem to have had the largest share of overarching responsibility, played a shockingly minor role. At first the ubergeeks assumed the feds were constrained by the need for secrecy: you know, protecting official tactics and methods. Surely behind the scenes there was a sophisticated, well-fun.. Mark Bowden
c2485aa It was the way he lived. He could walk out of that building at a moment's notice and leave behind no personal trace. Mark Bowden
cd4ed5a Garrison wrote in his memo to Hoar. "There is no place in Mogadishu we cannot go and be successful in a fight. There are plenty of places we can go and be stupid." Mark Bowden
6285620 Enemy morale has not been broken--he apparently has adjusted to our stopping his drive for military victory and has adopted a strategy of keeping us busy and waiting us out (a strategy of attriting our national will). He knows that we have not been, and he believes we probably will not be, able to translate our military successes into the 'end products'--broken enemy morale and political achievements by the GVN [government of Vietnam]. Mark Bowden
dcb50b1 The fifty-three-year-old former Eagle Scout from South Carolina didn't drink, smoke, or swear; the most colorful expletive in his vocabulary was "dad gum."7 He was a West Pointer and had been an artillery commander in World War II." Mark Bowden
93431de She had joined the Viet Cong herself four years earlier, its Young Pioneer Organization. Mark Bowden
6839cde prepare for a great push to be called Tong-Tan-cong-Noi-day (General Offensive, General Uprising). It would take place during Tet, which in 1968, according to the Chinese calendar, was to be Mau Than, the Year of the Monkey. Mark Bowden
28352f2 Four specific missions were assigned: to spy on the nguy and American forces in the city; to recruit civilians to join the uprising and provide support; to train them with weapons and tactics; and to build a committed core who, when the battle began, would carry the wounded to medical stations in the rear and help feed the army. Weapons, ammo, food, and medical provisions all would be smuggled, stockpiled, and made ready. Mark Bowden
45e8752 Anyone who uses Windows on their home computer is familiar with routine security updates, which Microsoft issues on the second Tuesday of each month. In the Tribe it has become known as "Patch Tuesday." Mark Bowden
f61bb23 Pretty girls were not perceived as a threat in the city. They moved around freely. They could watch the military and police posts, mapping entrances and exits, defenses, and gun positions, and noting the enemy's numbers and routines. Mark Bowden
5312c87 The Internet promised a truly global egalitarian age. That was the idea, anyway. The international and unstructured nature of the thing was vital to these early Internet idealists. If knowledge is power, then power at long last would reside where it belonged, with the people, all people! Mark Bowden
53f5e6a the domestic enemy's inner sanctum, the National Press Club. Mark Bowden
f01b096 Nearly everyone had a father or uncles who had fought in World War II or Korea, or both, and many had grandfathers who had fought in World War I. War was stitched deep in the idea of manhood. Mark Bowden
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