Too many folks at the time, in too many important locales, foresaw the essential futility of what Washington sought to achieve. Too many were convinced, at the time, that it was unnecessary even to try. This realization, along with the finding that U.S. officials were themselves pessimistic about the prospects and, in many cases, dubious of Vietnam’s importance, raised questions in my mind not merely about the wisdom of America’s Vietnam policy during The Long 1964 but also about the motivations behind that policy;
