raharris1973
Gone Fishin'
What if, for internal communist bloc or North Vietnamese reasons, the Viet Cong / PAVN menace develops ore slowly and does not reach a point where US ground forces are required until 1968?
I've had discussions about an earlier Vietnam war, and some suggested that before the mid to late 60s you would not have had the same type of mass anti-war protests. I've also heard stuff about the counterculture being a likely development even without the war, indeed possibly more widespread.
So, if Vietnam decision time does not come till 3 years later, and with the US counterculture and probably urban rioting happening anyway, are Johnson's calculations affected at all? Has the shadow of McCarthyism receded enough that escalation seems like a poorer political bet? Does it appear obvious from the get go that there will be massive left-leaning opposition to a major US war?
To change it up more - WI decision time (owing to comunist escalation) comes in 1971 instead of 1964-65?
I've had discussions about an earlier Vietnam war, and some suggested that before the mid to late 60s you would not have had the same type of mass anti-war protests. I've also heard stuff about the counterculture being a likely development even without the war, indeed possibly more widespread.
So, if Vietnam decision time does not come till 3 years later, and with the US counterculture and probably urban rioting happening anyway, are Johnson's calculations affected at all? Has the shadow of McCarthyism receded enough that escalation seems like a poorer political bet? Does it appear obvious from the get go that there will be massive left-leaning opposition to a major US war?
To change it up more - WI decision time (owing to comunist escalation) comes in 1971 instead of 1964-65?