Khe Sanh, the new Ðiện Biên Phủ? A reinterpretation of one of the most controversial battles of the 1968 Tet Offensive through the prism of the analog trap
Type de matériel :
TexteLangue : français Détails de publication : 2025.
Ressources en ligne : Abrégé : A product as much as a victim of history, analogy embodies par excellence this double-edged sword capable of justifying with equal force both escalation in a war and disengagement. During the Battle of Khe Sanh, whose outbreak preceded by ten days that of the great surprise offensive of Tet on the night of January 30 to 31, 1968, the comparison suddenly resurfaced with the great battle lost by General de Castries’ troops at Ðiện Bien Phủ on May 7, 1954. Why and how did analogy forcefully invite itself into the political-strategic and media debate? What were its effects in return on the political-military decision-making processes at work? What did it essentially mask? These are the major questions this article attempts to answer.
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A product as much as a victim of history, analogy embodies par excellence this double-edged sword capable of justifying with equal force both escalation in a war and disengagement. During the Battle of Khe Sanh, whose outbreak preceded by ten days that of the great surprise offensive of Tet on the night of January 30 to 31, 1968, the comparison suddenly resurfaced with the great battle lost by General de Castries’ troops at Ðiện Bien Phủ on May 7, 1954. Why and how did analogy forcefully invite itself into the political-strategic and media debate? What were its effects in return on the political-military decision-making processes at work? What did it essentially mask? These are the major questions this article attempts to answer.
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