Books: Not Guilty

WHY WE WERE IN VIET NAM by Norman Podhoretz Simon & Schuster; 210 pages; $13.50

This book is 210 pages leading up to a punch line. The punch line is Ronald Reagan's remark that Viet Nam was a "noble cause." Norman Podhoretz, neo-conservative guru, editor of Commentary, author of that 1980 call to arms, The Present Danger, argues that Reagan's description of Viet Nam is close to the truth. He seeks to prove that much fulmination to the contrary, America's participation in the war was not immoral. While Podhoretz will not convince those to...

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