George McT. Kahin’s New York Times op-ed, “History and the Bloodbath Theory in Vietnam”

This chapter presents George McT. Kahin’s New York Times op-ed published three days after Nixon’s November 3 address. Kahin claimed that Nixon was wrong on the facts buttressing the bloodbath theory and that his argument against withdrawal because of a likely bloodbath “has made it much more difficult for Americans to trust in a negotiated peace settlement.” Kahin argued that the administration’s most persistent argument against a rapid or complete withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam has been that a bloodbath would take place if American forces were no longer available to protect President Thieu’s regime from the National Liberation Front.