Given the essence of our culture in America, we tend to not look at the all the same variables our president and joint Chiefs of Staff have to consider. We were are coming off back to back World War victories ( we even have t-shirts) , but did we ever really listen to President Johnson.
" The most important question I had to face was: How will the decisions we make in Vietnam or elsewhere afffect the security and the future of our nation? "
During Johnson Recalls his Decision to Commit he shows concern for the well being of Americas future. He takes the possibilty of the United States looking vunerable to out side nations attack. We had to keep communism at arms length and prevent the spread of Russia and China's power. President Johnson states "...if we do not live up to our commitment in Southeast asia and elsewhere, they would move to exploit the disarray in the Unitied States and in the alliances of the Free World". He believed whole heartly that if we were to just pick up and leave Vietnam with some sort of peace accord that communism would suffocate the entire Southeast Asia and potential make a world power that we were later have conflict with. Granted all the lives lost and money spent we had to walk on egg shells and really think of out security before retreating.