, but vietnam made a lasting impact on the rest of his career because it was in vietnam that he rlized the limit to american power andthat how carefully we should prepare for military engagement and this was the lson that he brought to his final mission as well. >> rose: talk about that, and then we will talk about your personal experience, but in terms of afghanistan and pakistan, in my theory that he always wanted to have india as part of that sort of jurisdiction that he w given. >> he should have. >> he should have and that is the problem we face today is that the rival between india and pakistan plays on the ground in afghanistan with american troops caught in the middle and he knew that and he knew that pakistan was a key player in what is happening there, and you have seen a tremendous deterioration in the relationship between the u.s. and pakian, maybe that would have happened with holbrook working this, but i don't think so. he always -- he said to me over anand over again we need to make this a less transactional relationship and have to respect the pakastanis and their conce

of a vietnam veteran and a career military officer says a vietnam more really, he did two tours in vietnam and i think it really touched its mark on my family and my parents marriage and on their relationship with their children so i was fascinated by that. also i grew up in the 1980s and vietnam was still very raw subject for adults so i recognize while my father was willing to talk about his experience, most adults were not and i had, also i was trying to reconcile some competing messages what i was hearing from him about how the war was representative for. >> and, what did your father right in the prologue of the book? >> well, i wrote the prologue but it was about his experience in the war and i wanted to do that because this is a very personal subject for me and i wanted to explain the genesis of the book so i basically describe some of the contours of his service in vietnam which during his first tour took him to quantify province and living on an advisory compound with maybe 20 americans and working solely with the vietnamese infantry and it was very hard. it was very dangerous and

military base and living conditions in vietnam. >> host: how many soldiers at the peak in vietnam. >> guest: the peak ways in 1968 and it was 542,000 americans in vietnam. >> host: how many american soldiers were killed that year? >> guest: off the top of my head i don't know. it was the deadliest year in vietnam because of the tet offensive and the mopping up operations. so i don't in the book deny the hardships that soldiers endured and the cost of the war in terms of blood and treasure, and emotional consequences of the war. what i'm trying to do is to complicate people's ideas what it meant to have served in vietnam and what that experience was like and to give some credit to soldiers who don't see their experiences represented in film or television or other popular representations of the war. >> host: now, you have a chart in here, gross sales in vietnam, fiscal years 1968 to 1972. 1968, $325 million. is what you have. up to 364 million in 1971. why do you include this chart? >> guest: well, one of the things i examine is consumerism and the role it played in american soldiers' l

it went on not only against south vietnam and north north vietnam -- at least where nobody was looking -- the area around hanoi was somewhat spared because there were a lot of eyes there, foreign embassies. but the south, northern part of vietnam was turned into a moonscape, south vietnam itself may never recover. the bombing extended to northern laos which had nothing to do with the war in vietnam, mainly because it was a lot of air force planes were idle during bombing. here they virtually destroyed what amounted to a virtually stone age society, primitive society in northern laos littered with unexploded ordnance, people still dying. people were literally living in caves for several years trying to survive. i interviewed a lot of them back around 1970. then it expanded to cambodia which was actually the most intense bombing in history following henry kissinger's immortal phrase, "anything that flies against anything that moves." those were the orders handed down by kissinger from his boss to the air force and the bombing, a brief period just a couple of years, we now know reached th

, but vietnam made a lasting impact on the rest of his career because it was in vietnam that he rlized the limit to american power andthat how carefully we should prepare for military engagement and this was the lson that he brought to his final mission as well. >> rose: talk about that, and then we will talk about your personal experience, but in terms of afghanistan and pakistan, in my theory that he always wanted to have india as part of that sort of jurisdiction that he w given. >> he should have. >> he should have and that is the problem we face today is that the rival between india and pakistan plays on the ground in afghanistan with american troops caught in the middle and he knew that and he knew that pakistan was a key player in what is happening there, and you have seen a tremendous deterioration in the relationship between the u.s. and pakian, maybe that would have happened with holbrook working this, but i don't think so. he always -- he said to me over anand over again we need to make this a less transactional relationship and have to respect the pakastanis and their conce

south vietnam and north vietnam the area around have no way was somewhat scared because of the foreign embassies but the of the part was turned into of moonscape and south vietnam never recovered and aba me and six did into northern laos having nothing to do with the war but because the air force planes were idle they had nothing to do so here they virtually destroyed what amounted to a stone age primitive society of northern laos littered with people still buying and people are living in caves several years trying to survive. i interviewed them a lot in 1970 then expanded to cambodia that was the most intense bombing in history following kissinger immortal phrase anything that flies against anything that moves. those were the orders handed down by kissinger from his boss and a brief period of just a couple years that we now know reached the level of all allied bombing in the pacific region during world war ii including the two atom bombs on the poor peasant society. lot of consequences to that. very ugly once but it finally more or less ended but it didn't. the facts of the chemical w

many people fled the country during the vietnam war especially from south vietnam in the final days of the conflict in the 1970s. about 2.7 million vietnamese now live overseas. officials used to treat them with suspicion because of connections with proreform groups. but that attitude has changed in recent years. the government even invited children living overseas back to vietnam to see firsthand how the country is developing. former refugees are now viewed as what the country needs to further business reforms. the president played drums to welcome the expats home. the government will likely continue to send messengers of conciliation to vietnamese around the world to urge them to return and to support the nation's economic development. and now to afghanistan where it's been more than a decade since the overthrow of the taliban. the strict rule of the islamic militants included a ban on movies, but these days film is grabbing the hearts and the minds of young afghans. some of them are even using the medium to send their own message to the world. >> reporter: thisictional film is the w

i was telling my friends about vietnam and this and that. as i moved into a teenager, i became fascinated by a lot of the drug literature material. as i had to get a job and wanted to write, i knew i wanted to write from a young age, and this war again became something i was fascinated by. i felt like these are the big stories of my generation. neil sheehan' s advice is to find the biggest story in grab onto this. -- grab onto it. >> explain your be entbeing interviewed by a well-known reporter. there seems to be a tension here. explain this. he is the establishment and you are not. >> i do not mean this to be contentious. obviously, your piece has created some controversy among your colleagues. do you think it is fair to hang out with somebody over a long time or even a short time and, you know, go drinking with them -- >> i did not drink with them. have you read "rolling stone?" >> came out with them and hear their off-the-cuff comments. >> these are not off-the-cuff comments. >> i am going to test any inaccurate thing you say. >> jokes. j

this is where vietnam's new middle class likes to go out. the restaurants, cafÉs and shops are always busy, and the narrow streets are teeming with thousands of mopeds. this morning, 35-year-old pham hong dung is visiting his father and his uncle, who live in a run-down building in one of the old town's back streets. he himself was born here, and has only just moved out. it had got too cramped -- these 16 rooms are shared by 50 people. pham hong dung's family own two thirds of the house -- the other six rooms are state-owned. they were confiscated by the communists over 50 years ago. but life in the house is still very communal. it's like a village, says pham hong dung. these days, he works in a bank. he has fond memories of the house he grew up in. i still remember people waking up and saying hello and exchanging the news of the day. it was quite close. >> the old town is a jumble of busy roads, winding lanes and rickety houses. it survived the vietnam war largely intact, and poverty in subsequent years was so widespread that the government

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this is parallel to the vietnam situation. you had all of these activities going on in the countries surrounding vietnam. this -- if they are part of the problem driving terrorism, the focus on the iraq became a blind in one hand the fact that we must stand up as an ally in the war on terror, very quickly became nonsensical. >> we have a column from july 16, 2011. this is the case against general -- general petraeus. it seems odd to have to say, this also marks the beginning of a crack-up, a self-ignited blinder that blinds us to the global jihad. when did you begin to feel that strongly about general petraeus? >> i wish i could remember the exact year. there was a time in which, when he stepped to the forefront because we did not focus on him until that time so following 2006, when the policy became an american military effort to pacify the violence, and stop the civil war that was breaking out, that would thereby spark an iraqi renaissance that would make switzerland proud. this is a situation where we had a strategy that di

can achieve a military victory in vietnam. the anti-war activists look for someone who can challenge johnson in the primaries. you think back in american history. prior to 1968 when a party tried to challenge a sitting president was 1912, when you had roosevelt challenging a a sitting president. but they wanted to pressure johnson to try to quickly end the war in vietnam. they searched for a number of people. they approached senator mcgomp and declined. but senator mccarthy of minnesota. when he entered the primary in 1968, he had a very strong showing against president johnson. he didn't win, but made johnson aware he was going to have a tough time. johnson decided to withdraw from the race. senator robert kennedy, entered the presidential contest and they were both going after it. and vice president humphrey decided to enter and carry the standard for the johnson administration. humphrey supported the policies of johnson. and what senator kennedy was assassinated in june and that left senator mccarthy to be the insurgent can

since vietnam military treats reporters differently. is that good or bad, we'll debate that next. ♪ so don't let odor stop you. gillette odor shield. turns odor into freshness. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. oooh, what's her secret? [ male announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. improves the look and feel of hands in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! [ male announcer ] dawn do. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. >> tell them not to shoot us. i worked with geraldo rivera 30 years . first at 20-uent now at fox. i have always thought he was a little crazy and he does things like this, i get confirmation. some qaddafi stragglers have taken up positi

i had that experience one time in vietnam. i was airborne and i was napalm. 50 caliber. somebody was in distress. i heard it on guard channel. so i was given a frequency. i was talking to a fellow on the ground. he was a member of the special forces guys who had infiltrated. and they had -- they recruited. these were chinese prisoners, criminals i suppose. but they were released from jail citizen in order to fight the viet. dedicated guys. they had dead and wounded. they needed a bit of help. i was -- we led down not know what was beneath us. wondering if you're going to run into something. but we broke out below. but we only have a few to work with. this guy was whispering in the microphone trying to find him was another task. what the timing might be. so we fooled around until he gave a heading and turned north. i finally managed to fly over his position and came back with the napalm. he wanted it right on his position. if that's what you want, we'll give it to you. that night i was in the squadron bar back at base. when some guy was at the door asking for me. my guy's

>> well he was very much against the vietnam war. certainly by 1965, and he played a major role, really, in leading the opposition to it through the fulbright hearings, february 1966, because this is the senate foreign relations, first televised hearings on the vietnam war. and up to that time, the opposition to the war had been academic, the teach ins, it had been young people, it had not been an establishment figure like george kennan, but when george kennan went on fulbright's -- went before fulbright's committee. >> senate foreign relation's committee. >> and found himself without expecting to himself on national television that day the whole nature of the debate changed, it has an astonishing impact as you can see on the tape he was wonderfully charismatic on television, although he detested television greatly, and so it had a huge impact. his public opposition to the war in vietnam. >> rose: and then iraq? >> and then iraq washe last event, really, that he pronounced upon. he was interviewed about the runup to the war in iraq i

c-span: diem was president of south vietnam would years? >> guest: and 50s, all the way for the 50's, 54 on through 1963. when he was killed in a coup with his brother. c-span: so jade as que was president when he was called? >> guest: john f. kennedy died only three weeks after the assassination of president diem. c-span: you're is the clip of your mother and tim weiner of "the new york times" talking. >> guest: right. >> november, 63, i was at a mass that morning. and you're father came into the church, little flower in bethesda and said pray for the diem brothers. pray for the souls of the diem brothers. they have been found murdered, which was a shock, a terrible shock to. bills paid for that mass and we prayed fervently for president diem and his brother. what was so difficult about it was that in hindsight that an immediate hindsight we have to -- we americans have to realize that we bore some -- share in this tragedy. i -- not personally, but some how things went wrong somehow. this was an extraordinary moment of the presidential car

what would jack kennedy have done in vietnam.ate an american war in vietnam involving troop levels of 500,000 soldiers? would he have allowed the word eska tlit where we lost 58,000 american soldiers? it's a question i've been asked again and again traveling the country for my new book "jack kennedy elusive hero." the day he died he'd given a speech that morning in ft. worth that said, quote, without the united states, south vietnam would collapse overnight. those were his very words that morning of november 22nd, 1963, with lyndon johnson at his side to the city's chamber of commerce. without the united states, south vietnam would collapse overnight. so was he ready to introduce american combat troops or was he going to limit our role? was he going to do what lyndon johnson did and make it an american war? there are good reasons to believe he would not have. his war buddy recalls kennedy issuing orders to a marine unit wanting to take his men into a combat situation. the warning was for the president. if he did it, he'd have hel

. >> in vietnam maybe longer. >> in world war ii, the enemy had a decency to wear a uniform and there a front line and rear area . we understood the importance was rotating service members back and forth and limit their exposure so they could perform in their units . moving forward to vietnam, you had a larger number of soldiers and air men and marines exposed to trauma and again, the vast majority of them were for a single tour and less than a year of combat exposure. >> first two world war average of 200 days. days of someone trying to kill you. first two world war maybe two hundred days of exposure and vietnam 300 days and the last 10 years a thousand days. >> to 1500. >> and you have a voluntary army that goes back and serves more days at rick. >> as general stucky said beware of a 12 division strategy with a 10 division army. the human load on each service member is unlike any in our history. the good news, talk about the good news, you have a generation like mark and his peers when it was clear after 9/11 we were at war and they said here i am send me. they knew they were going

-- you did not support it in vietnam? >> if you change the planning designation for one building, will everyone else want the same thing? you know that does not happen in the city. every project is very hard fought. president chiu: just to go back to supervisor mar's question, these are expensive. do you not think that would be a superior way to think about this if we could do that? >> the devil is in the details. where is the if, when you look at the affordable housing set aside, which spur helped write and which it supports. this is one of the most value pieces of land on the west coast. if that answers your question. president chiu: let me ask you a different question. spur has supported other projects. this has a 400-car garage, which i think will bring a lot more congestion in a part of town that is already congested. how did spur reconcile that piece of the project? >> there are two pieces to the parking. one is the one unit per space, which is pretty standard in the city. the other is simply replacing parking for t

i had that experience one time in vietnam. was airborne and it was napom and 50 caliber laying up fives at the time. somebody was in distress. and i heard it on guard channel. so, i was given a frequency and i was talking to a fellow on the ground. he was a member of a mike force team. these were special forces, green beret guys, who had infiltrated. they had -- they were -- they recruited nungs, chinese prisoners or criminals, i suppose, but anyway they were released from jail in order to fight the viet cong and given the opportunity to be led by these force teams, consisting of a captain, couple of lieutenants. wildest people and meanest guys i've ever known in my life. dedicated guys. anyway, they were -- they were -- they were encircled and they had dead and wounded and they needed a little bit of help. and i was privileged to be -- we led down through an undercast, not knowing what was beneath us, a little hairy, wondering if you're going to run into something. but we broke out below. we only had 1,000 feet to work with.

-- you did not support it in vietnam? >> if you change the planning designation for one building, will everyone else want the same thing? you know that does not happen in the city. e

and retired captain bing west, on active duty during the vietnam war, later served as assistant secretary of defense during the reagan administration. welcome to you both. the reason i made that comment about likely sentences, this still has to go up one administrative level if i understand it. colonel solis, here you had 24 iraqi civilians killed. all these cases went on and on and basically no one served any time. what is your assessment of this judgment today? >> this is a pathetic conclusion to an outrageously inept prosecution for a horrific act. no one can be pleased by the outcome. certainly the united states ends up looking terrible. not to mention 24 dead bodies and no time anywhere in the process. >> warner: professor west, what is your assessment of this?

-- you did not support it in vietnam? >> if you change the planning designation for one building, will everyone else want the same thing? you know that does not happen in the city. every project is very hard fought. president chiu: just to go back to supervisor mar's question, these are expensive. do you not think that would be a superior way to think about this if we could do that? >> the devil is in the details. where is the if, when you look at the affordable housing set aside, which spur helped write

then bogged down in the vietnam war. woodrow wilson, of course, shortly into his term was consumed with the european war which he ultimately had to get into. on a lesser scale, without question, i had this... i got on the committee, it was then called bking, it became financial services, because i have a passion for dealing with low-income housing. rental housing. that's one of the things i'm frustrated by. i have felt we made a mistake in trying to get lower-income people into hses that they own. if we had decent rental housing for people there wouldn't be a need to have a push to put people inappropriately in some cases into that. and i finally got to be chairman of this committee in 2007 whi has jurisdiction over housing and housing is a broadway to deal with... i'd like to... we could get rid of homelessness except for those who were for mental or emotional regions determined to be homeless. i thought we could do a great deal to improve people's living conditions. i wanted to integrate housing with human services to