"The Kissinger Diaries: What He Really Thought About Vietnam" Topic

"It has long been assumed that Henry Kissinger "supported" the Vietnam War throughout the 1960s—and that this was one of the reasons Richard Nixon offered him the job of national security adviser. This view is incorrect. As his private papers and diaries make clear, Kissinger realized by 1966 at the latest that the U.S. intervention in defense of South Vietnam was a doomed enterprise and that only a diplomatic solution would end the conflict.

From a very early stage, Kissinger understood the nature of the problem the United States faced. "All history proves that there is no cheap and easy way to defeat guerrilla movements," he wrote in February 1962. "South Vietnam has been plagued by Communist Viet Cong attacks ever since it became independent in 1954. Their defeat can only be accomplished by adequate military force. … However, merely physical security will not solve the problem. The people of South Vietnam must develop a long-term commitment to their government if they wish to attain political and economic stability."…"
From here
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Amicalement
Armand

Doesn't sound like any new ground. Basics behind the "hearts and minds" program.

Richard Nixon was elected in part on his pledge to END the war in Vietnam, which he did. He had no plan to turn tail and run, but to get US troops out, yes. That he would bring in Kissinger makes perfect sense.