OCR Text |
Show HILL Friday, ldydks.f By Dr. Roger D. History Office launius Backfire: History of How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did by Loren Baritz. New York: William Morrow, 1985, $17.95. The Vietnam War will not go away. It is an historical curiosity and a political touchstone, a looking-glas- s war that stares back at us through time. Why did it happen and what does ft mean? And most importantly, what have we learned? There are many answers, but no consensus. Some of the literature Vietnam inspired is stunning and much of its scholarship significant. Together they help us see beyond the mythology of the cold war into the workings of our political culture. Loren Baritz's important and engaging book, Backfire: A History of V5eftnim How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the. Way We Did, is a brilliant contribution to this effort. Backfire is the first work of historical scholarship to deal with the origins, escalation, and conduct of the Vietnam War in cultural terms. It looks into and beyond the White House, the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Congress to reconsider the "assumptions Americans make about their country ... the ancient myths that form the ba- sis of American nationalism." By revealing how these assumptions influenced the early decisions to intervene, and how they shaped our conduct and our purposes, Baritz also exposes the attitudes that organize the way we think about ourselves and the world. The Vietnam war is the topic of this its subject is America. "War is a product of culture," Baritz writes. "Vietnam was started and fought in ways our culture required." "We brought it on ourselves, and are likely to do it again," Baritz concludes, "for the causes of the war, the deepest causes, are ingrained. They had more to do with our shared assumptions than they have to do with whom we vote into office. They have more to do with the requirements generated by the national security bureaucracy we created to manage the cold war than they have to do with particular decision-makers.- " Baritz reminds us of how confident we were in America's invincibility durWar days. He ing those looks closely into "the invention of South Vietnam" during the Kennedy years, and he examines the body counting war at home the bureau pre-Vietna- TIMES 1985 m cratic and psychological effort to con- vince ourselves that we were winning, and would surely win. The egos of the are disprincipal decision-maker- s cussed, and the relationship between personal ambition and bureaucratic politics is most fully developed in his chapter on Kissinger and Nixon. "Americans supported the war for so long," Baritz writes, "because we assumed our leaders knew what they were doing, because of our chronic panic about Communism which is so patently dangerous that evidently we do not need to understand it, and because we assumed that it would all be easy. We were wrong on every count. Our history in Vietnam is therefore an ideal case study that reveals what is wrong with us." Backfire seeks to analyze why the lessons of Vietnam are so difficult to learn. Federal Employees: Get more health care for your money. Staying fit is a good way to reduce health care costs. Another way is with HealthWise, a federally qualified Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Utah. With HealthWise you can afford to take care of yourself before an illness becomes critical. And you'll have ; more money for going out when you're through working out. HealthWise provides affordable budgetable prepaid health care. There are no deductibles, or claim forms to file on medical services you receive from HealthWise. Comprehensive dental coverage is also included in the HealthWise Plan. Freedom of choice. mmm&mmm iliilii Iliii Our statewide network of over 900 participating private practice physicians, 225 dentists, and 17 hospitals guarantees the freedom of choice you want in a health care plan. With HealthWise, you also have more clinics and pharmacies (all the major food store chains, and many independents) to choose from. Compare our benefits with others. . - v A Iv "i it 7 V n Let us review our summary of benefits with you. You'll find HealthWise offers benefits the others don't. Like dental care for preventative, routine, and extensive treatment. It's easy to be part of HealthWise Contact your employing office and ask for the standard form 2809. Fill it out and return it to your employing office during (November 4, 1985 to December 6, 1985). Open-Seaso- n HealthWise A 17 eulfiurai items Son book, but TOP Novmbr 22, The Smart Choice A federally qualified health Maintenance Organization. A subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield Utah Utah's Favorite color of insurance. |