NEW YORK — I first met U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who presided over the U.S. buildup in Vietnam, in the summer of 1967. I had just returned from a trip to South Vietnam, where, as a reporter for The New Yorker, I witnessed the destruction, by American air power, of two provinces, Quang Ngai and Quang Tinh.
America’s policies were clear. Leaflets dropped on villages announced, “The Vietcong hide among innocent women and children in your villages. If the Vietcong in this area use you or your village for this purpose, you can expect death from the sky.”
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