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Sunday, 31 January 2010

U.S. APPEALS RULING IN BLACKWATER CASE
















STORMBRINGER

1 comment:

TOF said...

In 1972 the NVA tried a reprise of the Tet '68 Offensive. Thanks to the actions of General John Lavelle, then Seventh Air Force Commander, it didn't happen -- at least it didn't happen at Tet.

You may recall Lavelle as having been fired for "exceeding his authority" and bombing the buildup to what would have been the Tet '72 Offensive. Instead the NVA offensive became known as the Easter Offensive; the political value of not launching the attack at Tet was lost.

For years Lavelle was smeared by his alleged disobedience, but in the past couple of years information has been forthcoming that the Nixon Administration did encourage Lavelle to attack the NVA buildup. In fact, Nixon's SecDef, Melvin Laird, wrote a letter to the Air Force Magazine acknowledging that Lavelle had been given the go-ahead to hit the buildup. Lavelle was sacrificed on the altar of political expediency for his efforts.