The B-52 massive bombing of North Vietnam aims to bring Hanoi to its knees. But at a high cost. US sources admit as many as 17 B-52s shot down while Radio Peking reports as many as 40 have been brought down. Whether it is 17 or 40, the fact remains that this has appreciably affected the US strategic air delivery potential since the B-52s are its only controllable (in mid-flight) units of intercontinental range for delivery of nuclear warheads. And right now these aircraft are being destroyed at an alarming rate in the wrong kind of war!
It is clear by now that the US has not learned its lessons from past experiences. What did McNamara say when more than half a million American troops were still in Vietnam? – “This war is going to ‘be decided not by what happens in the air over North Vietnam but by what happens on the ground in South Vietnam.”
Danilo Vizmanos
(November 24, 1928 — June 23, 2008), former Captain in the Philippine Navy; in which he served until he resigned out of opposition to the dictatorship, 1951-72. Arrested by the government, May 25, 1974, held without charges until his release in August, 1976.
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