It was not that the Viet Cong thought they were going to lose. It was that they did not think in terms of winning and losing at all—which was a profoundly different proposition. An enemy who is indifferent to the outcome of a battle is the most dangerous enemy of all. In order to understand the true significance of the first answer (that very few thought that the Viet Cong would win), you had to be willing to listen to the second (that very, very few thought the United States would win either)—and to push aside thoughts of the three M’s and appreciate how formidable a shepherd boy can be, even
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