EVER since the 1968 Tet offensive, officials in Washington and Saigon have recoiled from any excessive hopefulness about progress in the Viet Nam War. But hope is a hardy plant. For several months, a mood of guarded optimism has been budding in Washington, as dispatches from the field tell of new South Vietnamese strength and growing Communist weakness. Now, however, serious doubts are being cast on the validity of this "underground optimism," as it has come to be known.
Ambiguous Yardsticks. As a converted U.S. hawk with eminent academic credentials put it recently, the...
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