Existing comment:
“IF THOSE DAMNED CIVILIANS WOULD LEAVE US ALONE WE COULD WIND UP THE WHOLE THING”
As the North Vietnamese continued to supply their forces and make inroads into South Vietnam, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, members of Congress, and General Earle G. Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff disagreed about a bombing campaign in North Vietnam. Wheeler and his generals wanting to disable Haiphong, found resistance from civilian leaders. On November 29, 1967, McNamara accepted the presidency of the World Bank, leading Wheeler to state, “We have no intention or recommendation to change the present character of the bombing campaign.”
“If Those Damned Civilians Would Leave Us Alone We Could Wind Up the Whole Thing,” 1967. Published in the Washington Post, December 1, 1967. |