U.S. National SecurityImplications of

Vietnam and Watergate

Clausewitz’s Trinity “composed of

primordial violence, hatred, and enmity, which are to be regarded as a blind natural force;

of the play of chance and probability within which the creative spirit is free to roam;

and of its element of subordination, as an instrument of policy, which makes it subject to reason....”

Lessons from the Korean “Police Action” Because the Soviets never demobilized after WWII, And because the US had begun to do so, The mismatched capabilities crippled the first US

efforts in Korea… So, the first US peacetime involuntary draft instituted And we never demobilized again (entering a

permanent security state).

Vietnam War 1950: Truman sends air and naval support as well as $15

million to aid the French 1954-6: France withdraws, making the US the principal

barrier to Communist victory The US had already become the principal financier of the French

effort. Eisenhower nixed the idea of ground invasion Kennedy

Communist victories in Bay of Pigs & Berlin Wall (1961) 1962: Agent Orange (US $2b already spent on Vietnam)

1964: Gulf of Tonkin

Vietnam 1967: protests become

more common 1968: Tet Offensive -

Media understands that the government has been lying about casualties & success of the war

1970: Kent State and Jackson State shootings

The Smothers Brothers 1967-69: “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” on

CBS Hired as “clean-cut,” harmless folk singers Before long, political activism began to creep into

their comedy, turning the variety show into satire Fall 1967: Booked Pete Seeger (who had been

blacklisted as a communist in the 1950s) Constant arguments with network over political

content led to its cancellation “The Draft Dodger Rag”

Q: What to do?A: Leak the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg, a military

analyst, discovered the classified report and decided that the people had a right to know

Xeroxed at night secretly for months

Released to the New York Times in 1971

Pentagon Papers US Senator Mike Gravel

entered them into Congressional record

Nixon administration filed an injunction

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

In the meantime, other newspapers begin publishing

Ellsberg charged with espionage, but charges dropped

Nixon’s Plumbers Secret task force formed in the Nixon White

House in 1971 Charged with stopping leaks of classified

information Took their mission a little too far

Broke into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office to steal damning files

Broke into the Watergate Hotel

Implications of Vietnam and Watergate for US National Security End of the draft (1972) War Powers Resolution

(1973) Ill-treatment of

Vietnam veterans

Discussion Do you agree with Clausewitz’s conception of

the “trinity” and its influence on war? What is the state of our “trinity” today?

How would the Smothers Brothers fare today?

Did Daniel Ellsberg make the right decision in leaking the Pentagon Papers? What about current leakers, such as Edward Snowden?