ABSTRACT
Deception often plays a decisive role in military battles. Tet was no exception. However, the deception came not from the enemy, but was self-induced, a delusion. While the enemy did conduct a deception campaign before Tet, lulling the US into false hopes for new peace talks, a far greater deception, or delusional, campaign was being conducted by the US military and the Johnson administration. An all-out public relations campaign was conducted in November 1967 in which the American public was told for the first time that the enemy was on the run and that the end was in sight. The public relations campaign was founded on a fallacy; a fallacy based upon numbers and statistics, not upon an understanding of the enemy and their motivation. When the Tet Offensive was launched, with a ferocity and intensity that belied the predictions made in November, the American public lost faith in their leaders, their military, and the intelligence community. The ‘turning point’ had been reached in the Vietnam War.
