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A review by superike
A Bright, Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan
5.0
Even if I knew this book had stellar reviews (an average rating of 4.2 stars over more than 8,000 ratings is nothing to sneer at), it had been shelved on my Vietnam War To-Read list for quite some time. I had never been able to get to it until the last 3 weeks while on vacation. At 900 pages, it is a substantial book, but it rarely feels too long or too down in the weeds.
Of all I have read about Vietnam, Neil Sheehan comes quite close to capture, perhaps, the essence of the Vietnam War: a massive exercise of delusion. What I'm still not sure of is: was it honest or dishonest delusion? It's probably both. In the end, the result is the same.
The subtitle of the book is "John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam", and it is an important subtitle. Neil Sheehan tells the story of the Vietnam war through the life of John Paul Vann, especially his decade in South Vietnam from 1963 to 1972 (with a brief interruption in 1964-1965), first as a lieutenant colonel of the US Army and advisor to AVRN (the South Vietnam armed forces), and hereafter as some kind of civilian expert on counter insurgency/pacification, but able to speak as equal to US and AVRN military officers at the highest levels.
The history of Vann's attitude towards the Vietnam war followed a totally reversed arc from 99% of his peers in military or government. Up to more or less Tet in 1968, he was the skeptic, the guy who could clearly see through the overwhelming problem that the fight against communism in South Vietnam -although really it was a national independence matter- was. He saw through the vast corruption and incompetence of the Saigon regime, the voluntary or involuntary self-blindness of the whole American apparatus in Vietnam and Washington, the misguided war attrition strategy of Westmoreland and the destruction it wrought on Vietnam, and the understanding that the Viet Cong represented a social revolution and national dignity yearned for by a significant portion of the population.
But after Tet 1968, when American public opinion really started to turn against the war, and that the vast majority of military and civilian officials started to lose their illusions about Vietnam, John Paul Vann was actually the one who made a point of saying "wait a minute, it's not as bad as you think". The war became is entire obsession, to the cost of everything else: is family and personal life among other things. Neil Sheehan shows how his energy, drive, intelligence, upbringing and commitment made a difference quite often, but despite that, Vann could not by itself turn the tide of the war. The fact that he was able, as a high official in 1971 and 1972, to have at his fingertips the authority to order and control civilian, US and AVRN military assets at a level worthy of a 2 star general is quite exceptional.
Sheehan covers quite extensively Vann's life prior to Vietnam as it is essential in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the man, and how it impacted his outlook and work in Vietnam. Sheehan expertly merges this with a quite thorough overview of the war militarily and politically, and how it progressed.
There are a number of tidbits that was new to me: for instance, how much the U.S. government unwittingly armed and significantly increased the Viet Cong threat by providing lavish weapons upgrade on the AVRN that often found its way into the hands of Viet Cong resistance through corruption, or wholesale throwing of weapons in panic withdrawals of AVRN soldiers. I had not realized the significance of that until now. Also illuminating for me was how much the "anti-colonialism" mentality of most American officials prevented them from taking over, or at least imposing order and efficiency on the incompetent and corrupted Saigon regime. No one knows how that would have played out, but turning a blind eye to this tremendous problem certainly didn't help at all and made an eventual defeat almost foreordained.
Overall, If I would have to select 10 Vietnam war must reads, well no scratch that, 5 Vietnam war must reads, A Bright Shining Lie would arguably make that short list. Highly recommended.
Of all I have read about Vietnam, Neil Sheehan comes quite close to capture, perhaps, the essence of the Vietnam War: a massive exercise of delusion. What I'm still not sure of is: was it honest or dishonest delusion? It's probably both. In the end, the result is the same.
The subtitle of the book is "John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam", and it is an important subtitle. Neil Sheehan tells the story of the Vietnam war through the life of John Paul Vann, especially his decade in South Vietnam from 1963 to 1972 (with a brief interruption in 1964-1965), first as a lieutenant colonel of the US Army and advisor to AVRN (the South Vietnam armed forces), and hereafter as some kind of civilian expert on counter insurgency/pacification, but able to speak as equal to US and AVRN military officers at the highest levels.
The history of Vann's attitude towards the Vietnam war followed a totally reversed arc from 99% of his peers in military or government. Up to more or less Tet in 1968, he was the skeptic, the guy who could clearly see through the overwhelming problem that the fight against communism in South Vietnam -although really it was a national independence matter- was. He saw through the vast corruption and incompetence of the Saigon regime, the voluntary or involuntary self-blindness of the whole American apparatus in Vietnam and Washington, the misguided war attrition strategy of Westmoreland and the destruction it wrought on Vietnam, and the understanding that the Viet Cong represented a social revolution and national dignity yearned for by a significant portion of the population.
But after Tet 1968, when American public opinion really started to turn against the war, and that the vast majority of military and civilian officials started to lose their illusions about Vietnam, John Paul Vann was actually the one who made a point of saying "wait a minute, it's not as bad as you think". The war became is entire obsession, to the cost of everything else: is family and personal life among other things. Neil Sheehan shows how his energy, drive, intelligence, upbringing and commitment made a difference quite often, but despite that, Vann could not by itself turn the tide of the war. The fact that he was able, as a high official in 1971 and 1972, to have at his fingertips the authority to order and control civilian, US and AVRN military assets at a level worthy of a 2 star general is quite exceptional.
Sheehan covers quite extensively Vann's life prior to Vietnam as it is essential in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the man, and how it impacted his outlook and work in Vietnam. Sheehan expertly merges this with a quite thorough overview of the war militarily and politically, and how it progressed.
There are a number of tidbits that was new to me: for instance, how much the U.S. government unwittingly armed and significantly increased the Viet Cong threat by providing lavish weapons upgrade on the AVRN that often found its way into the hands of Viet Cong resistance through corruption, or wholesale throwing of weapons in panic withdrawals of AVRN soldiers. I had not realized the significance of that until now. Also illuminating for me was how much the "anti-colonialism" mentality of most American officials prevented them from taking over, or at least imposing order and efficiency on the incompetent and corrupted Saigon regime. No one knows how that would have played out, but turning a blind eye to this tremendous problem certainly didn't help at all and made an eventual defeat almost foreordained.
Overall, If I would have to select 10 Vietnam war must reads, well no scratch that, 5 Vietnam war must reads, A Bright Shining Lie would arguably make that short list. Highly recommended.