SAIGON, SHIT, I’M STILL IN SAIGON

THERE’S AN OLD story from the American Civil War that tells of Ulysses Grant being confronted by senior Union officers when he took over the Northern Army. These officers were constantly going about what Confederate General Robert E. Lee was capable of doing or going to do, or had done. They were anxious for Grant to realize that he had never faced Lee before. Grant told them frankly that he was sick of hearing what Robert E. Lee was going to do to them; he wanted to know what they were going to do to Lee. And when Lee attacked and gave the Union a bloody nose, Grant did not do what previous Union leaders had done; instead of the traditional Union retreat, he moved forward. Again and again and again. No matter the casualties, no matter the time it took. He had a clear aim, a definite end, and the hearts and minds of his army and their people were with him. All they had been looking for was someone to see the defeat of the Confederacy to its conclusion.

Fast forward a century, to 1968, when the North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies launched the infamous Tet Offensive, occupying cities and attacking bases all over South Vietnam, the United States and the South Vietnamese Army, and their allies, annihilated the attackers. But the story that surrounded Tet was, in essence, one of defeat for the United States, in spite of the size of the military victory. For so many Americans, Tet was the beginning of the end for their war in Vietnam. For all the victory on the battlefield, the war appeared aimless. They could not see the point of it. They could not see any end to it. Their hearts and minds were lost, and without them, the war was lost.

The Iran War being waged right now has so far been militarily a success for the United States and Israel. But military success cannot always survive without the hearts and minds of the people in whose name the war is being waged. And the story those people are digesting is, in so many cases, one of chaotic disaster. The aim, the point, the end? The spirit of Tet thrives.