Dereliction of Duty (1998 book)

Dereliction of Duty (1998 book)

Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam is a book written by Brigadier General H.R. McMaster that explores the military's role in the policies of the Vietnam War. The book was written as part of McMaster's Ph.D. thesis at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The book examines Robert McNamara and U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's staff, alongside the military and particularly the Joint Chiefs of Staff, failure to provide a successful plan of action to pacify either a Viet Cong insurgency or decisively defeat the North Vietnamese Army.

McMaster details why military actions intended to indicate "resolve" or to "communicate" ultimately failed when trying to accomplish sparsely detailed, confusing, and conflicting military objectives. In his opinion, the military is not a political or diplomatic tool, but force to be used appropriately to inflict massive casualties and cause maximized damage to enemy forces in order to meet objective military targets and goals.

Influence

CNN reports, regarding the influence of the book:

Pace said he and the other joint chiefs were debriefing commanders just back from the front lines, including one colonel recognized as a rising star and creative thinker -- Col. H.R. McMaster, the author of 1997 book "Dereliction of Duty," considered the seminal work on military's responsibility during Vietnam to confront their civilian bosses when strategy was not working.

External Links

Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam Amazon.com



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dereliction of duty (disambiguation) — Dereliction of duty is a specific offense in military law. Dereliction of Duty may also refer to: Dereliction of Duty (1998 book), a book by H. R. McMaster Dereliction of Duty (2003 book), a book by Robert Buzz Patterson This disambiguation page… …   Wikipedia

  • The Path to 9/11 — was a two part miniseries that aired in the United States on ABC television from September 10 ndash; 11, 2006, and also in other countries. The film dramatizes the 2001 terrorist attack upon the World Trade Center in New York City and the events… …   Wikipedia

  • WOMAN — This article is arranged according to the following outline: the historical perspective biblical period marriage and children women in household life economic roles educational and managerial roles religious roles women outside the household… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident — Infobox Military Conflict conflict= 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident caption= United States military personnel inspect the wreckage of one of the two Black Hawks shot down in the friendly fire incident in northern Iraq date=April 14, 1994 place …   Wikipedia

  • Presidency of Bill Clinton — 42nd President of the United States In office January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 Vice President Albert Gore, Jr …   Wikipedia

  • Maxwell D. Taylor — For other people named Max Taylor, see Max Taylor (disambiguation). Maxwell Davenport Taylor General Maxwell Taylor Portrait …   Wikipedia

  • Civil–military relations — Part of the Politics series Politics List of political topics Politics by country …   Wikipedia

  • Relief of General Douglas MacArthur — General of the Army MacArthur greets President Truman at the Wake Island Conference Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Law, Crime, and Law Enforcement — ▪ 2006 Introduction Trials of former heads of state, U.S. Supreme Court rulings on eminent domain and the death penalty, and high profile cases against former executives of large corporations were leading legal and criminal issues in 2005.… …   Universalium

  • USS Iowa (BB-61) — ( The Big Stick ) was the lead ship of her class of battleship, and was the fourth ship of in the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 29th state. Iowa is the only ship of the class to have served a combat tour in the Atlantic Ocean… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”