Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Did Kissinger forget the Korean War?

Henry Kissinger may need to read up on the history of U.S. foreign policy. Speaking at the State Department yesterday, according to a transcript I have, he said of the Vietnam War that, "It was America’s first experience with limits in foreign policy, and it was something painful to accept." Actually, if there is any ...

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Henry Kissinger may need to read up on the history of U.S. foreign policy. Speaking at the State Department yesterday, according to a transcript I have, he said of the Vietnam War that, "It was America's first experience with limits in foreign policy, and it was something painful to accept." Actually, if there is any war that earns that title, it was the Korean War, with the collision between MacArthur and Truman about whether to take the war directly to China's ports and airfields.

Henry Kissinger may need to read up on the history of U.S. foreign policy. Speaking at the State Department yesterday, according to a transcript I have, he said of the Vietnam War that, "It was America’s first experience with limits in foreign policy, and it was something painful to accept." Actually, if there is any war that earns that title, it was the Korean War, with the collision between MacArthur and Truman about whether to take the war directly to China’s ports and airfields.

Speaking of Vietnam, the other day I wandered into this website, a bibliography of the Vietnam War, and wound up looking at it for most of the afternoon, clicking through the online oral histories.

The same professor has done a very good bibliography on the U.S.-Iraq wars. Either one is a great starting point, or a good place to review and see what holes you have in your education. Would that more professors performed such public services!

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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