After the Tet offensive, the U.S. had all but achieved our goal in Viet Nam. According to Viet Cong estimates (the people we were there to eliminate) their losses at Tet were 300,000; 3 times our estimates. They were all but wiped out, and from then on the North Vietnamese Army ran the show.
We then attempted to "Vietnamize" the war; supplying and training the ARVN army. Except that the U.S. Congress voted to cut funding. S. Vietnamese hospitals were ordered to wash and reuse bandages; soldiers were issued 20 rounds of ammunition and 2 grenades. When the big push came from the north, they still managed to fight bravely and score victories facing 2 to 1 odds, in places. But when S. Vietnam fell, it fell to 4 NVA armored divisions employing more support trucks than Patton's Redball express.
The Indochinese war was "lost" to the U.S. Congress.
That said, Macnamara did more to help us lose than anyone else. Instead of fighting to win the war, he played statistics games.
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