Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Robert Montague, 1982
Description:
Robert Montague was a General in the United States Army. He first went to Vietnam in 1963 and was involved in the early planning of the war. In 1966, he was a Director of the Office of Civil Operations, focusing on the American effort of pacification. He discusses his reservations about the military escalation of US forces into South Vietnam, and his role in creating the estimates for General Westmoreland regarding the decision of whether or not to escalate. General Montague believed that the American forces were not prepared to fight the kind of war that needed to be fought in Vietnam, and that introducing large numbers of American troops would necessarily transform the conflict from a Vietnamese war to an American war. He notes that if a long-term view had been used, the war strategy would be seen as too prolonged and expensive to end favorably for the United States.
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