09-23-2017, 12:04 PM
(09-23-2017, 09:04 AM)David Horn Wrote: LBJ believed that Ho and company would negotiate if he made the pain great enough. They wouldn't.
Actually, they did - just not with LBJ. After all, we got a reasonable agreement in 1973, before the US reneged on our side of the bargain.
LBJ just didn't know how to negotiate. He would permit a cease fire every time we went to the negotiating table, which Vietnam used to build up its forces while we didn't. Nixon got it right: keep the military pressure up while negotiating. We needed Vietnam to keep feeling the pain.
I do agree that Kim is unlikely to give up his nuclear program in negotiations, though, at least as long as he thinks he can get what he wants without negotiations. From what he has seen, the US always caves in the end; alll he has to do is be patient.