Hacker News Reader

Ellsberg had access to the information Kissinger had and still thought the Vietnam war was unjust and unwinnable.

It’s hard to imagine what Kissinger knew that would drastically change my perception on him.

The Vietnam war was unjust and unwinnable.

JRK got us into it, and Nixon got us out of it while navigating the complexities of China, the cold war, and a potential WW III if we appeared too weak.

JFK and Johnson deserve the blame for starting the war, by the end of Johnson’s term it was obvious the public wanted out of the war and he was negotiating the end of it. Nixon and Kissinger extended the war for political reasons. They met behind the American governments back with the south Vietnamese and convinced them to hold out for a better deal from the republicans, and they withdrew from talks and tanked Johnson’s peace deal. They eventually negotiated almost the same deal but worse after many American lives, and many more Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian lives were spent. By all appearances, for nothing more than electing Nixon.

and Kissinger got the Nobel Peace Prize

Reply on news.ycombinator.com