Grant, Zalin. Facing the Phoenix: The CIA and the Political Defeat of the
United States in Vietnam. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991. 395 pages.
Zalin Grant spent five years in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973, writing
for Time and The New Republic. This is his interpretation of the war from
the perspective of major players such as Edward Lansdale, Tran Ngoc Chau,
and to a lesser extent John Paul Vann, Daniel Ellsberg, William Colby, and
various other military, State Department, and CIA personnel. Grant believes
that certain players had a good handle on how to neutralize the enemy
through local political action and enlightened aid programs. Just as they
were making significant progress, however, they were defeated by corruption
in Saigon and by big-bang, big-bucks conventional-warfare mongers like
William Westmoreland. In other words, we defeated ourselves. The media
played a role through advocate-journalists like David Halberstam and Neil
Sheehan, along with compelling video from broadcasters like Morley Safer.
This book is valuable because the author's experience in Vietnam (he
speaks the language), along with his many contacts and interviews, add to our
impression of what was happening in the country from 1945 until Chau's escape
in 1979. But for those who understand Vietnam in the context of American
hegemony (why were we there in the first place?), or those who feel that the
U.S. peace movement played a major role, the author has nothing to say.
ISBN 0-393-02925-5
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