Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy

by Robert S. McNamara, Herbert Y. Schandler, Robert K. Brigham, et al.

Book Overview

Did the Vietnam War have to happen? And why couldn't it have ended earlier? These are among the questions that Robert McNamara and his collaborators ask in Argument Without End, a book that will stand as a major contribution to what we know about the Vietnam War. Drawing on a series of meetings that brought together, for the first time ever, senior American and Vietnamese officials who had served during the war, the book looks at the many...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891620878
• ISBN13: 9781891620874
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A difficult, but inportant read

I am sure that many will rate this book, based upon McNamara's performance during the Vietnam era, probably awarding only one or two stars. However, this is an important book that reveals the many and complex reasons and way that we became involved in the Vietnam war. The book is a difficult read but is packed with insight into the thinking (or lack thereof) by senior personnel on both sides. There are also many interesting references into the behavior of the Chinese and Soviets.This may not be the definitive book on the Vietnam war, but it should be one of the major written analyses. Read it.

An honest attempt to understand the war has flaws.

I don't know if it is possible for anyone who was so close to the events to have an unbiased opinion. I don't claim that. But there are points of history that can be discussed. If one examines the Vietnamese public reaction to the fall of Diem when a true patriotism for the South seemed to grow,it is difficult to agree totally with McNamara's conclusions. Also, the ability of the South Vietnamese to stand up in battle in 1972 was not fully acknowledged. Much of the US forces were out of the war by then and they managed to hold back a major offensive. I have seven books by Duong Dinh Loi about his participation in the war, but I don't think they have been translated or play any part in this book. (Nha Xuat Ban Troi Nam, Box 1075, Bellaire, Texas 77402) This would address the argument about if the war could have been won or not. The real question should have been if we wanted to pay the cost of winning the war. In my opinion, we did not. I also think it was too high. I thought it appropriate that many identified themselves as "anti-Vietnam" rather than "anti-war." For Vietnam paid much more than we did. Our real question now, is what sort of relationship do we want with Vietnam? It is a country with good climate, industrious people and a philosophy of life that we could learn from.

What we have here is a failure to communicate!

Between 1995 and 1998 former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara led a series of meetings with our former adversaries in Vietnam designed to discover what caused the war in Vietnam and why the best minds in the world were not able to end it sooner. This book publishes the results of those meetings. Mr. McNamara, in his characteristic, "let the facts speak for themselves" and, "let the chips fall where they may," style leads a distinguished team of American and Vietnam scholars, government officials, and military men in an analysis of what happened and why. The misperceptions held by both sides were shocking! Worse still, they could have been solved by simply communicating effectively with each other. The book points out the importance of examining and reexamining long held beliefs concerning your opponent and the desirability of keeping effective lines of communication open even in the midst of war. Because these things did not happen in Vietnam, over 4 million people died fighting a war that neither side wanted. Mr. McNamara did not always come out on the positive side of these analyses. His willingness to submit himself the this scrutiny in order to preclude another Vietnam is commendable. The fact that he and his team effectively led the Vietnamese to do likewise is unprecedented and did much to help heal the wounds of war.This book should be read by every world leader today. It challenges them to attempt to see their adversaries postition and points out the dangers of failing to do so particularly in an age of nuclear proliferation. Serious students of the War in Vietnam, including historians and military planners will also profit from this work that is destined to become a classic in the field of international relations.

an important sequel

Read this then go on to "Stolen Valor"(1998),some of continuing (bad) legacy for Vietnam Vets, the real costs of that war are still coming in.

A most revealing book about the Vietnamese War.

The heart of this book lies in transcripts of important exchanges between high level Vietnamese and American officials, who conducted the Vietnamese War, about lost opportunities to end the war. Along with the transcripts are splendid analyses of what happened in the war, very well written and incisive. Robert McNamara is amazingly indefatigible in his determination to get to the bottem of what went wrong--believing this to be the responsibility of a good executive. He is a truly amazing man and this is a quite interesting book arising out of a unique effort at post-war dialogue.