Originally posted by Bigfella
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Wrong. Support dropped steadily over time. There are a lot of good reasons to see Tet as a 'turning point', but it only led to a slight acceleration in an existing trend. As long as the war continued & Americans kept dying the numbers were going to keep sliding (as they had in Korea).
You can use books to make your arguments, but I was there in person, watching, taking no sides, but frustrated that we could, but didn't take the fight to the North. And a lot of people felt that way. Crudely put, pro-war
people were saying, "either sh*t or get off the pot." When that didn't happen, the silent majority became allied with activist protesters, and public opinion went negative.
As for the 'media lost the war', a popular myth (especially among conservatives) that doesn't gel with reality.
The extent the media affects the outcome in any conflict is never certain, but it must be substantial or the combatants wouldn't try so hard to influence or control it. It is easier to fight a distant war when the public sees it in the abstract. When they see it in reality, katie bar the door.
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