Word: gavin
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...smaller countries of Asia and Africa, and not jump around like an elephant frightened by a mouse every time these things occur." While he did not advocate that the U.S. "turn tail and flee from the scene," he agreed with an earlier witness, retired Lieut. General James Gavin, that it should hole up in selected enclaves and strike a strictly defensive stance. Kennan left no doubt (see box) that he was unhappy about "this unpromising involvement in a remote and secondary theater," an attitude that evokes distant echoes of Neville Chamberlain's dismissal of Hitler's plans...
...expected witness this week is retired General James Gavin, who opposes Johnson's strategy and has argued that the U.S. should retreat to a limited number of enclaves in South Viet Nam. Even so, Gavin has backed down somewhat since his "turtle" tactics have drawn fire from most of his former colleagues, notably Taylor, who warned last week that a holding strategy of this sort would only convince the Communists that "wars of liberation" are "the surefire formula for successful expansion." Asked last week how he felt now about having suggested the idea, Gavin said: "I wish I hadn...
...enclave strategy" proposed by formes General James M. Gavin in this month's issue of Harper's seems the most realistic solution to that problem. Walter Lippman, who has favored this strategy for many months, calls it: "the best of a bad business, not glorious, but the least costly way of repairing the grievous mistakes of the past...
According to Gavin's plan, the United States would fortify its coastal enclaves and continue to defend the cities. The strategy would perhaps require as many as 500,000 troops. It would not spell retreat or withdrawal; in place of search-and-destroy, it would emphasize securing territory which is already occupied by allied forces. The U.S., rather than extending its commitment to land which is militarily unattainable, would concentrate its commitment--rationalize and define it -- to include only those areas in which it enjoys over-whelming tactical superiority. By blocking any further Communist advance, the plan would stabilize...
...phased withdrawal from Viet Nam. To Richard Nixon, proponents of enclave warfare were neither hawks nor doves but "turtles" who, he said last week, want to withdraw into their shells and "turn the Vietnamese people over to the Communists." Lyndon Johnson reacted even more acerbically to General Gavin's proposal: "I'm not going to have our troops return to the coast and let our marines go fishing while the Viet Cong ravage the countryside. I'm not going to hunker up and take it like a mule in a hailstorm...