Vietnam War
Notice for Scholars
This monograph was originally published as the September
1972 issue of Southeast Asian Perspectives, a publication of the
American Friends of Vietnam, an organization which was formed in
1955 and prior to its demise two decades later included on its board such diverse figures as Senators John F. Kennedy and Mike Mansfield, Socialist Party Chairman Norman Thomas, and Journalist
Robert Shaplen. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author. Please note that in formatting it we have not been able to precisely duplicate the original pagination. Most pages are true to the original except for perhaps a few lines at the top or bottom of the page, but scholars who wish to cite the work may wish to check citations against an original copy in a major library. Alternatively, citations may be made to this web site.
iv
Southeast Asian Perspective
Preface
In 1971, an extensive collection of classified documents relating to United States policy in Vietnam was turned over to the press by certain private individuals formerly in government service who were opposed to the American involvement in that embattled country.
Government efforts to prevent publication of the documents were unsuccessful; and the Pentagon Papers, as they are now universally known, have become an important source of information on US policy in Vietnam down to 1968.
Admittedly an incomplete record, the Pentagon Papers "were written almost exclusively from the files in the Department of
Defense, and did not involve interviews with the key decision makers or consideration of documents in the files of the White
House, the State Department, or other government agencies."
Nevertheless, the Papers have been eagerly seized upon by opponents of the Vietnam involvement as providing voluminous and conclusive proof of the unwisdom —or worse—of official policy over the preceding two decades.
One wonders whether the critics have really bothered to read
This monograph was originally published as the September
1972 issue of Southeast Asian Perspectives, a publication of the
American Friends of Vietnam, an organization which was formed in
1955 and prior to its demise two decades later included on its board such diverse figures as Senators John F. Kennedy and Mike Mansfield, Socialist Party Chairman Norman Thomas, and Journalist
Robert Shaplen. It is reprinted here with the permission of the author. Please note that in formatting it we have not been able to precisely duplicate the original pagination. Most pages are true to the original except for perhaps a few lines at the top or bottom of the page, but scholars who wish to cite the work may wish to check citations against an original copy in a major library. Alternatively, citations may be made to this web site.
iv
Southeast Asian Perspective
Preface
In 1971, an extensive collection of classified documents relating to United States policy in Vietnam was turned over to the press by certain private individuals formerly in government service who were opposed to the American involvement in that embattled country.
Government efforts to prevent publication of the documents were unsuccessful; and the Pentagon Papers, as they are now universally known, have become an important source of information on US policy in Vietnam down to 1968.
Admittedly an incomplete record, the Pentagon Papers "were written almost exclusively from the files in the Department of
Defense, and did not involve interviews with the key decision makers or consideration of documents in the files of the White
House, the State Department, or other government agencies."
Nevertheless, the Papers have been eagerly seized upon by opponents of the Vietnam involvement as providing voluminous and conclusive proof of the unwisdom —or worse—of official policy over the preceding two decades.
One wonders whether the critics have really bothered to read