The Coalition of the Swilling

That happened only a few (maybe 10 or 15) miles from where I work.

No disrespect, but I haven't read him. If you knew him then condolences. The more journo's in the combat zone, maybe the more peace we will have?

"Halberstam put an enormous effort into his book about Kennedy's foreign policy decisions about the Vietnam War, The Best and the Brightest. Synthesizing material from dozens of books and many dozens of interviews, Halberstam focused on the odd paradox that those who crafted the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same men were unable to imagine and promote any but a bloody and disastrous course in the Vietnam War."

William, that's much of what went wrong in Vietnam. Instead of letting the military fight it properly, the "whiz kids" thought they could "manage" it and "manage" the government, press, and public too.

Brilliance in one area doesn't translate to brilliance in another.

Managing a war sounds so familiar. I wonder why that seems to be?

Hmmm. I wonder if any of the current "best and brightest" ever thought of using massive power to accomplish military goals instead of trying to finesse with minimal use of force. By keeping our effort at a minimum, we are allowing those less powerful to keep up with us.

Yeah, just like in Viet Nam.

Darn shame is what it is. I am much more familiar with his sports journalism; he did good work there. You can tell the craftsman by attention to craft.