ABSTRACT
In effect, the Johnson Administration committed the United States to war without having made a clear and unambiguous decision that the preservation of South Vietnam, in and of itself, was worth the sacrifice of American lives. This ambiguity is underlined by the fact that relatively senior Administration officials were often unsure how to explain the war to the American public. A public statement, either Presidential or on a high State Department level, should spell out some of the guidelines. The fact that, four years after the US began to dramatically step up its involvement in Vietnam, an official as senior as an Assistant Secretary of State should feel the need to point out that the public did not understand the reasons for US involvement in the war. In 1992 Yugoslavia was a side story in a time of profound change to the political landscape of the world with the end of the Cold War.
