CBS REPORTS: THE UNCOUNTED ENEMY: A VIETNAM DECEPTION (TV)
Summary
One in this series of irregularly scheduled in-depth reports. This report investigates a conspiracy in U.S. military intelligence to withhold information on the size and nature of Vietcong forces from the American people in the year before the Tet offensive (January 30, 1968) was launched. President Lyndon B. Johnson discusses winning the war in Vietnam; in 1964, Johnson appoints Gen. William Westmoreland as commander in Vietnam; Westmoreland gets Johnson to commit American combat troops in 1965 and issues a body count of enemy dead supporting his contention that the U.S. is winning the war; former CIA analyst Samuel Adams discusses his discovery that U.S. military intelligence was underestimating enemy strength; Apr. 28, 1967, Westmoreland addresses Congress; Westmoreland disputes the CIA's report on enemy strength; Col. Gaines Hawkins recalls Westmoreland's reactions to the new enemy figures; Gen. Joseph McChristian recalls the reaction his reports of increasing enemy strength elicited; Westmoreland explains why he didn't report these statistics to Washington; Adams and Hawkins describe the meeting meant to resolve the conflict between the CIA and the military over enemy numbers; Westmoreland and Adams on the exclusion of Vietcong paramilitary forces (self-defense militia) from the enemy count; Westmoreland defends his decision and reacts to Mike Wallace's charge that political considerations led to his decision; Nov. 15, 1967, Westmoreland discusses winning the war; and Westmoreland comments on the fact that before the Tet offensive, North Vietnamese regulars infiltrated the south at a rate of 25,000 a month while the reported figure was only 7,000 a month.
Dec. 23, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson awards an Oak Leaf Cluster to Gen. William Westmoreland for his accomplishments in Vietnam; Saigon, headquarters of American command in Vietnam, in January 1968; Jan. 30, 1968, the Tet offensive begins as the Vietcong strike everywhere at once, including Saigon and other South Vietnamese cities; the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issue a report which indicates that Tet nearly succeeded and the Vietcong control the countryside; Westmoreland claims Tet is a defeat for the Vietcong; the media begins to express doubts about Vietnam and on Feb. 27, 1968, Walter Cronkite calls the war at best a stalemate; Military Assistance Command Vietnam (M.A.C.V.) issues the first estimate of enemy strength after Tet -- 204,000; Westmoreland replies to charges that the M.A.C.V. statistics were rigged; two M.A.C.V. officials accuse their superior of asking them to tamper with the computer's database; Westmoreland comments; Feb. 17, 1968, Johnson sends troops to Vietnam; Westmoreland asks for 206,000 more troops to fight the war; Mar. 18, 1968, Johnson tries to rouse support for the government's Vietnam position; Mar. 25, 1968, the Council of Advisors ("wise men") advise Johnson to pull out of the war; Mar. 31, 1968, Johnson announces that he will not seek re-election; and on Apr. 30, 1975, the Vietcong enter Saigon. Included is an update on the post-Vietnam careers of those covered in this program. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: January 23, 1982 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:27:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T82:0561
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Central Intelligence Agency; Vietnam War - 1964; Vietnam War - 1965; Vietnam War - 1967
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1959-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Howard Stringer … Executive Producer
- Andrew Lack … Senior Producer
- George Crile … Producer, Director, Writer, Reporter
- Joseph Zigman … Associate Producer
- Mike Wallace … Reporter
- Walter Cronkite
- Gaines Hawkins
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Joseph McChristian
- William Westmoreland