“We should try to induce them to get out of the war without having their country destroyed and to realize that if they do not get out, their country will be des

“We should try to induce them to get out of the war without having their country destroyed and to realize that if they do not get out, their country will be destroyed,” -- McNamara Totally false premise. The Vietnamese fought the French from '46 to '54 [0] and defeated them. In '54, six parachute battalions dropped using US aircraft, artillery, and US tanks were deployed in Dien Bien Phu, NE Vietnam. Over a month later the Vietnamese overran the entire French force, effectively ending the war. This was known by the US and I'm not sure they learned these lessons. I didn't realise why the French might be interested in Vietnam until I found Michelin had interests in rubber plantations. [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Rubber_Plantation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Rubber_Plantation