The Myths and Realities of the 1968 Tet Offensive

Dr. James S. Robbins, IWP Dean of Academics, gave a lecture on "The Myths and Realities of the 1968 Tet Offensive" at IWP's campus in Reston, VA on April 13, 2023. This lecture is part of the Asia Initiative Lecture Series, organized by IWP's China/Asia Program. About the Lecture: Most of what Americans have heard about the Tet Offensive is wrong. That the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces were handily defeated was considered immaterial by the press; that it could mount attacks at all was deemed a military triumph for the Communists. This persistent view of Tet is a defeatist storyline that continues to inspire America’s foreign enemies and its domestic critics of the use of force abroad. James S. Robbins provides an antidote to the flawed Tet mythology still shaping the perceptions of American military conflicts against unconventional enemies and haunting our troops in combat. In his re-examination of the Tet Offensive, Robbins analyzes the Tet battles and their impact through the themes of terrorism, war crimes, intelligence failure, troop surges, leadership breakdown, and media bias. The result is an explosion of the conventional wisdom about this infamous incident, one that offers real lessons for today’s unconventional wars. Without a clear understanding of these lessons, we will find ourselves refighting the Tet Offensive again and again. About the Speaker: Dr. James S. Robbins is a national security columnist for USA Today and Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council. Dr. Robbins is a former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in 2007 was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award. He is also the former award-winning Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at The Washington Times. His work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and other publications. He appears regularly on national and international television and radio. Dr. Robbins holds a Ph.D. fr