Dishonor and Vietnam

"James Q Wilson reports on The Press at War over at the City Journal.
Here’s how Wilson opens his Media War coverage:

We are told by careful pollsters that half of the American people believe that American troops should be brought home from Iraq immediately. This news discourages supporters of our efforts there. Not me, though: I am relieved. Given press coverage of our efforts in Iraq, I am surprised that 90 percent of the public do not want us out right now.

I have to agree with him, based on predominant mainstream media (MSM) reporting, I’m surprised we don’t have millions in the street. They must be watching less (non-cable) TV news and (surely) reading fewer newspapers than even dwindling rating indicate."

Dadmanly

Here is the thing I don't get. Maybe one of you guys can explain it to me. They admit that:

"First, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both wanted to avoid losing Vietnam without waging a major war in Asia. Kennedy tried to deny that Americans were fighting. A cable that his administration sent in 1962 instructed diplomats and soldiers never to imply to reporters any “all-out U.S. involvement.” Other messages stressed that “this is not a U.S. war.” When David Halberstam of the New York Times wrote stories criticizing the South Vietnamese government, Kennedy tried to have him fired because he was calling attention to a war that we did not want to admit we were fighting.

Johnson was willing to say that we were fighting, but without any cost and with rosy prospects for an early victory. He sought to avoid losing by contradictory efforts to appease doves (by bombing halts and peace feelers), satisfy hawks (with more troops and more bombing), and control the tactical details of the war from the Oval Office. After the Cam Ne report from Morley Safer, Johnson called the head of CBS and berated him in language I will not repeat here.

When Richard Nixon became president, he wanted to end the war by pulling out American troops, and he did so. None of the three presidents wanted to win, but all wanted to report “progress.” All three administrations instructed military commanders always to report gains and rely on suspect body counts as a way of measuring progress. The press quickly understood that they could not trust politicians and high-level military officers."

Yet blame the media.

I think after reading that it's clear why America rejected that war, and why America may be on the way to rejecting this one.

Regardless if we can handle it or not, we deserve the truth. Let the chip fall were they may, but tell us the truth about war.

Or pay the consequence