that we do today with the vietnam. well that's a that's kind of a difficult question i believe that some people will i say i believe that some people do now and but but i do i think it will be viewed differently because i think that from the beginning because of our outspoken this when we were rejected by the. by the nation we came home from vietnam because of outspokenness there are a lot of things available to reintegrate veterans into society admittedly not enough and we're not going to stop fighting but there are things there are support groups and things that such as we never had and and i think that the nation has caught on to that when you see things like wounded warrior project and all of the algorithm from just one i think there is a war and the and the attention that the media does pay to it i think there is a lot of a common attention throughout the population of the country that supportive of the troops. and their service but are not supportive of the mission all right well we really appreciate you coming o

vietnam and never saw the enemy. maybe they lost 15% or 20% of their companies through land mines, snipers, etc., but never engaged. and between the time they landed around the year's day until march 16, they became increasingly brutal, randomly going to a village and walking people. sometimes there would just hit an all men and no one says anything. what happens when you do not see organized enemy and you lose your buddies and you are angry, you take it out on the villagers, the civilian population. >> that was sy hersh speaking about the my lai massacre.c in your book, nick turse, the talk about the testimony of soldiers who spoke of my lai each month for a year and saying these types of atrocities were carried out by every single unit that was deployed in vietnam. can you talk about what you found in the u.s. government archives that speak to this level of killing that you're discussing in your book? >> sure. when i was a graduate student i found these records. they had been sitting in the national archives for ye

served in vietnam, even if he had wanted to, we once again heard that the era of vietnam and vietnam's relationship to american political leadership was something that was over. hey, it's not over. and we shouldn't expect it to be over. and that's important right now for two reasons. the first reason is specific to vietnam. the first reason is about the unfinished business from that era, which for a president who was too young to have served in that war, nevertheless seems to be very close to his heart. >> so here today it must be said you have earned your place among the greatest generations. at this time i would ask all our vietnam veterans, those of you who can stand to please stand. all those already standing, raise your hands as we say those simple words which always greet our troops when they come home from here on out, welcome home. [ applause ] welcome home! welcome home! thank you! we appreciate you. welcome home. >> president obama speaking to vietnam veterans last may. the president there reflecting on the fact that it took this country more than a decade to finally say welc

c-span: to the vietnam memorial? >> guest: yes, the vietnam memorial. i sure got him involved in a hornet's nest. it became big news, as you know that's when that tour took place that weekend. skip was on it in full uniform -- green beret, soldier's medal, combat ribbons. c-span: did you buy the story of the call-boy homosexual ring that craig spence was supposed to be running? >> guest: it was probably true. i don't think he was running it i think he was probably a customer. i think so. c-span: the implication was there were major political figures in this town that were also using that. >> guest: i think that may well be true. it hasn't been solved, if you will, to my satisfaction. i mean, i'm not about to say on the air who i think was involved or might have been involved that you never heard about because i have no proof. i think there was a good deal more to it. c-span: talking about the book "fighting for air." this is what it looks like. where did you get that picture on the cover? >> guest: one of the great artists at simon & schuster picked tha

vietnam and never saw the enemy. maybe they lost 15% or 20% of their companies through land mines, snipers, etc., but never engaged. and between the time they landed around the year's day until march 16, they became increasingly brutal, randomly going to a village and walking people. sometimes there would just hit an all men and no one says anything. what happens when you do not see organized enemy and you lose your buddies and you are angry, you take it out on the villagers, the civilian population. >> that was sy hersh speaking about the my lai massacre. in your book, nick turse, the talk about the testimony of soldiers who spoke of my lai each month for a year and saying these types of atrocities were carried out by every single unit that was deployed in vietnam. can you talk about what you found in the u.s. government archives that speak to this level of killing that you're discussing in your book? >> sure. when i was a graduate student i found these records. they had been sitting in the national archives for yea

navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like nine eleven for those people every day was. the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one thousand nine hundred seventy three thousand excess and announce the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military who see that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think they had learned from vietnam is that they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so it becomes a proxy or a client of the united states forty years and six presidents later critics say washington has done a better job at repeating mistakes rather than learning from them we still keep gettin

navy serving in vietnam every every year we were there every day was like nine eleven. for those people every day was nine eleven for to be the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one thousand nine hundred eighty three title nixon announced the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think did learn from vietnam is that they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or client of the united states forty years and six presidents later critics say washington has done a better job at repeating mistakes rather than learnin

lauren tells us more. >> the vietnam memorial was built to honor the american lives lost during the vietnam war. the war lasted from 1959 to 1975. it was the longest and most unpopular military conflict in u.s. history. troops fought to prevent the northern communists from taking over the south vietnamese government. millions of civilians were killed, as well as over 58,000 american soldiers. like the war itself, the memorial caused controversy. it was designed by maya lin, a young architecture student from yale university. her drawings were selected out of a thousand others in a national design competition. >> maya lin's design was very controversial because, at that time, there really wasn't anything similar to it at all. americans were typically thinking of a statue of a human being that would show, in this particular, case vietnam veterans at war. instead, you had "the wall," as it's commonly referred to now, with the names on it. very different. >> the long black wall slopes down and then upward. the names are engraved in chronological order, according to the date when the soldiers die

navy serving in vietnam every every year we were there every day was like nine eleven for those people every day was going to be the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one thousand nine hundred seventy three presidents nixon announced the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think they had learned from vietnam is that they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or a client of the united states forty years and six presidents later critics say washington has done a better job at repeating mistakes rather than learning from them

and it is a grim anniversary for the us and for that of vietnam. they cannot explain the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and we mourn their country so that it becomes a proxy or a client of the united states all despite the huge losses both sides suffered in the conflict for decades ago now we explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is ready to repeat his costly mistakes. and up to twenty people are being killed in a double blast at the university of. syria i mean battleground between government forces and rebels looking to overthrow president assad more details on that just around the corner. now france says it will significantly boost its intervention force to mali with the total number of troops deployed to the conflict zone expected to reach two and a half thousand felt paris's carrying out attacks against islamist insurgents in its former african colony only from the air but despite almost five days of intensive airstrikes aimed at helping mali's government the mil

and vietnam. they cannot buy into the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and we mold their country so that it becomes a proxy or quiet for the united states or the spy the huge losses both sides suffered in the conflict almost four decades ago we explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is ready to repeat it's costing us. now france says it will significantly boost its intervention force to mali where the total number of troops deployed to the conflict zone are expected to reach at least two and a half thousand a finale the parrot is carrying out attacks against islamic insurgents in its former african colony but only from the air and despite almost five days of intensive air strikes aimed at helping mali's government militants have managed to grab more territory it raises fears that the fight against islamist there will not be swift as the french authorities had been planning at the u.s. and britain are among those who wi

was drew from vietnam ending its involvement in a rule that calls to both sides daily both the national and physically the price paid was too high for similar mistakes to be repeated but as part of my explains washington's foreign policy in recent years is making many doubt its lessons were properly learned sixty one year old ken doll to him is a husband father and retired firefighter four decades ago he was a member of the u.s. navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like a nine eleven for those people every day was. the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one thousand nine hundred seventy three threaten nixon announce the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned f

you are talking about the atrocities in vietnam. you can also talk about the -- think of gulf war in 1991. very few american casualties and lots of iraqi casualties in 1991. think about the sanctions in the 1990s. hundreds of thousands of deaths that can be linked to that, think of afghanistan and the drones. do you think we really are sensitive enough to just sort of the implications of the kinds of deaths that just, you know, follow from the foreign policy that we have followed for decades, really? >> i just don't think it's on the radars of most americans. when i started studying this topic, i began with those secret pentagon files and i went to vietnam for the first time and i was trying to search for witnesses and survivors of the cases that i'd found in the archives and the pentagon's archives and i went to talk to the vietnamese about one specific event, one atrocity. a great spasm of violence and what the vietnamese tell me about is what it's like for ten years under bombs and shells and helicopter gunships and negotiated th

. >> 30 years after the end of the vietnam war, former enemies make amends. more on the relationship between the u.s. and vietnam, coming up. >> but we begin with breaking news, just in dozens have reportedly died in a nightclub fire in southern brazil. gabriel is on the line with the smell. gabriel, i have a number of conflicting reports. i will turn it over to you. what do you know? >> the latest we have heard is that local officials in the town are still counting the bodies from this nightclub fire, but they are apparently telling local media that the death toll will be at least 90 people killed, from what looks like an absolutely tragic fire that occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time in this town of santa maria, in southern brazil, 200 kilometers from the state capital. we are told the night club was packed with hundreds, hundreds of people, mostly young people. it is a college town. there was some sort of fire and that hundreds could have been transported to area hospitals with interest -- with injuries. all of these stories are just learning to come out. aga

navy serving in vietnam every every year we were there every day was like nine eleven. for those people every day was nine eleven for to be the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one nine hundred seventy three president nixon announced the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think they'd learned from vietnam is that they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or a client of the united states forty years and six presidents later critics say washington has done a better job at repeating mistakes rather than lear

would be the first vietnam vet to ever head the u.s. department of defense when i was in vietnam in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight united states senators making decisions that affected my life. and a lot of people who lost their lives that they didn't have i didn't having the say about someone needs to represent that perspective in in our government as well the people in washington make the policy. but it's the little guys who come back in the body but since two thousand and one an estimated sixty six hundred u.s. soldiers have returned from iraq or afghanistan in body bags and last year suicides by american soldiers surged to three hundred forty nine historic high the u.s. military has had decades of experience in areas like asia latin america the middle east and africa however experts say if leaders in washington don't begin learning from the past the only foreign policy factor that will continue changing is the geographic location of america's fatalities and repeated mistakes reporting from new york. r.t. . still ahead for you

navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like a nine eleven. for those people every day was nine eleven the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one nine hundred seventy three president nixon announced the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think did learn from vietnam is that they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or client of the united states forty years and six presidents later critics say washington has done a better job at repeating mistakes rather than learning from them we

and vietnam have a thriving trade relationship. in the past five years, the emphasis has shifted to security opera -- security cooperation. >> we will be strengthening our presence of the asia-pacific. >> u.s. officials have been trying to build relations with countries in the region in an effort to counterbalance china's influence. a longtime observer says ho chi minh city is not interested in being another arena between two superpowers. >> i don't think vietnam colubrids tensions with china, once to cultivate a relationship so close to the united states that it would harm its relations with china. >> when the u.s. defense secretary visited harbor in 2012, he talked not about the u.s. military losses decades ago with the future gains to be had. >> it will be particularly important to be able to work with partners like vietnam and be able to use harbor's like this as we move our ships from our ports on the west coast toward our stations here in the pacific. >> effort to build ties that benefits former enemies a generation later. >>

i will always be grateful for his partnership and helping to make real peace with vietnam. by establishing the most significant process in the history of our country, or of any country, for the accounting of missing and dead in any war. and then for working to lift the embargo and ultimately normalize relations with an old enemy. john had every reason to hate, but he didn't. and instead, we were able to help heal deep wounds and end a war that had divided too many people for much too long. and as we talk about war and peace and foreign policy, i want all of us to keep in our minds as i think we do, the extraordinary men and women in uniform who are on the front lines even as we meet here today. the troops at war who helped protect america, i can pledge to you that as a veteran of war, i will always carry the consequences of our decisions in my mind and be grateful that we have such extraordinary people to back us up. i also thank my new colleague, senator warren, for her generous comments. she's a longtime fierce fighter for what is just and fair and if her testimony has ha

next to vietnam's largest city, ho chi minh. he's trying to sell a business model that helped japan during its own period of economic growth. >> translator: industry in the area is already booming. we hope to contribute to developing not only industry but housing and services, too. >> reporter: private japanese railway companies create an important role helping other areas along cities like tokyo. without master plan, cities have concentric circles of mix residential and commercial areas. the farther the suburb, the more inconvenient it is to get to the city center. downtown traffic congestion only gets worse. but japan's private railway companies use a different model. first, they build railways into the suburbs and then large residential areas. they provide quality housing at reasonable prices. people living along the railway could easily reach the city. they also include supermarkets and amusement parks. as consumer incomes grew, the companies made money. tokyo hopes to adopt this model for vietnam by building integrated tran

well it is a grim anniversary for the us and that of vietnam. they cannot by the fact that they have great military supremacy and just destroy a government occupied country and we mold their country so that it becomes a proxy or a quiet for the united states well despite the huge losses from both sides suffered in the conflict almost four decades ago we explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is possibly poised to repeat it's costly mistakes. france says it will significantly boost its intervention force to mali where the total number of troops deployed to the conflict zone expected to reach two and a half thousand for another paris is carrying out attacks against islamic insurgents in its former african colonies though only from the air at this point but despite almost five days of intensive airstrikes aimed at helping mali's government militants have managed to grab yet more territory it does raise fears to say that the fight against islamist there will not be swift as a french authorities had initially planned at the u.s. and br

and vietnam. they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or quiet for the united states but despite the huge losses are both sides suffered in the conflict almost four decades ago or explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is poised to repeat its costly mistakes. france says it will significantly boost its intervention force in mali with the total number of troops deployed to the conflict zone expected to reach at least two and a half thousand a finale paris is carrying out attacks against islamic insurgents in its former african colony but doing so only from the air but despite almost five days of intensive airstrikes aimed at helping mali's government militants have managed to grab even more territory and raises fears that the fight against islamists there will not be as swift as the french authorities are hoping that the u.s. and britain are among t

panetta hey goal would be the first vietnam vet to ever head the u.s. department of defense when i was in vietnam in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight united states senators making decisions that affected my life. and a lot of people who lost their lives but they didn't have i didn't have anything to say about someone needs to represent that perspective in our government as well the people in washington make the policy. but it's the little guys who come back in the body but the u.s. military has had decades of experience in areas like asia latin america the middle east and africa however experts say if leaders in washington don't begin learning from the past the only foreign policy factor that will continue changing is the geographic location of america's fates holidays and repeated mistakes reporting from new york. r.t. . sometimes they come though the clothes you wear decides whether you live or die i owe a report on the violent gang wars and the us towns here interesting and. could be the ever. gone. left nothing to live. for precious children. l

withdrew from vietnam ending its involvement in a war that cost both sides dealy both financially and physically and the price paid was too high for similar mistakes to be repeated but is artie's marine important or explains washington's foreign policy in recent years is making many doubt if any of the lessons back then. sixty one year old ken dolls and is a husband father and retired firefighter four decades ago he was a member of the u.s. navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like nine eleven for those people every day was nine eleven the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one nine hundred seventy three president nixon announced the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment shoul

and vietnam. in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy and just destroy a government occupy a country and country so that it becomes a proxy or a client for the united states. despite the huge losses both sides suffered in the conflict almost four decades ago we explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is ready to repeat its costly mistakes. and also still to come. books. up to twenty people have been killed in a double blast at the university of aleppo in syria a main battleground between government forces and rebels looking to overthrow president assad more details on that for you. it's the fortieth anniversary of america's suspension of offensive action in vietnam war that cost both sides in lives and money resulted in a porno explains the foreign policy of recent years makes many doubt if any lessons were learned sixty one year old ken doll to him is a husband father and retired firefighter four decades ago he was a member of the u.s. . on every every year we we

and vietnam. they cannot in spite of the fact that they have great military supremacy go in and just destroy a government occupy a country and remold their country so that it becomes a proxy or a client for the united states. despite the huge losses both sides suffered in the conflict almost four decades ago we explore whether washington has learned the lessons or is ready to repeat its costly mistakes. still to come but first up to eighty people have been killed by double blast in syria's northern city of aleppo that rocked a university that the building is believed to be in housing refugees of course joins me live now with details. to tell us more about the targets of this attack. well the information we have at the moment is more than eighty people who have been killed and more than one hundred and sixty people who have been injured but that number is expected to climb and climb dramatically as many of those who've been wounded are in critical condition in hospital we know that there were two e

it's the fortieth anniversary of america's suspension of offensive action in vietnam a war that cost both sides dear in lives and money is not as miniport now explains the foreign policy of recent years makes many doubt if any lessons were learned. sixty one year old ken doll to him is a husband father and retired firefighter four decades ago he was a member of the u.s. navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like nine eleven for those people every day was. the work killed an estimated three million vietnamese and more than fifty eight thousand americans the u.s. stepped in on the side of south vietnam in its fight against the communist back north which was seeking to unify the country on january fifteenth one thousand nine hundred seventy three thousand excess and announce the end of offensive operations against north vietnam a military crusade that would lead or become a foreign policy benchmark for washington to never repeat the primary lesson that the us foreign policy establishment should have learned from vietnam and i don't think did learn from vietnam i

vietnam and the communists. i think you can't get a full view of the vietnam war without reading some of the regional perspectives. i think, at times, united states we tend to not only privilege an american position, but almost to foes -- foe qus -- focus on exclusively the vietnam war, vietnamese perspectives, thai, laos, cambodia, many national per perspectives we hao consider. i also think about allies as well too, that the united states is always going to have foreign allies in the conflicts, and through studying our historical interaction with them, what worked, what didn't work, and what were the sort of elements where we agreed and disagreed? that thing, that helps us understand to help what we're doing in iraq, afghanistan, or other conflicts. if you want a complete picture of the vietnam war, it's works like this that help. >> host: "in biewzist company: thai soldiers in the vietnam war" richard ruth, professor at the naval academy, is the author. thank you for your time. >> guest: thank you. >> accordi

it represents every vietnam veteran who served. >> reporter: those who served in vietnam weren't shown much respect when they returned. and even now, the feelings are a little raw. >> when we came back from vietnam, we didn't wanted to be in a military uniform. we were called names and put down. they didn't want us in colleges. they didn't want us around. you had to deny you were a veteran when you first came home in the '70s. >> reporter: the memorial was one of the first in the country erected in the 1980s to honor the sacrifice of the vietnam vets. >> you war you went over there to fight, he had knowing to do with, he had to go. >> reporter: is that why this hurts? >> yeah. it hurts a lot because it's a chance -- this is a recognition for it. >> reporter: they are hoping the plaque will be returned no questions asked. but if not, the city plans to replace it with a new one, perhaps made of granite. but for however little the thieves get at the scrapyard, these men know that the old plaque was already paid for with something far more precious than money. >> it's a betrayal of the dea

in each of the years he was in vietnam, more american soldiers were killed there than in the entirety of both wars in iraq afghanistan. it was a death toll that is unimaginable to any one who didn't live through those years. richard nixon had won the presidency on the lie that he had a plan to end the war. john kerry gave us more young americans including nixon knew was a lost cause. it was personified then by hippies. kids who were experimenting with new ways of living and dressing and the attitude that they had no duty to serve in a american war. the anti-war movement to be successful needed john kerry. it was as if he was a character delivered to us by a novelist. he shared john f kennedy's initials and some of this accent and was a decorated navy war hero. he was clean-cut for a hippy. he didn't have a stragley beard. but no other man appears before the committee had long hair covering his ears. he had a choice to make. he could have gotten a haircut dressed like a senator. he chose to look like a war protester against the war. the senator had never heard testimony like that. as d

so back to the first world war that was going to be over by christmas we have the vietnam war was only going to last a few months even and that lasted for many years and of course the afghanistan where you which the war they're still ongoing after twelve years or so so i think there is a real danger that this is a sort of a trap the transform into and they say that will be over in days or weeks and i think we could be talking more about months actually intervening in mali we've already heard that civilian casualties are taking place obviously this is going to intense because there are certain groups there and there is a great danger that terrorist campaigns will come back to france so i think this is a very mistaken policy by hollande he is extremely unpopular he's only been in power less than a year and i think that the contradictions are here again because al-qaeda groups are all equal the islamic rebels in syria to get france well on you taking a very aggressive line in trying to topple the syrian government and it doesn't seem to mind that he's backing islamic militants in syria an

in each of the years he was in vietnam, more american soldiers were killed there than in the entirety of both wars in iraq afghanistan. it was a death toll that is unimaginable to any one who didn't live through those years. richard nixon had won the presidency on the lie that he had a plan to end the war. john kerry gave us more young americans ip including nixon knew was a lost cause. it was personified then by hippies. kids who were experimenting with new ways of living and dressing and the attitude that they had no duty to serve in a american war. the anti-war movement to be successful needed squon kerry. it was as if he was a character delivered to us by a novel ellist. he shared john f kennedy's initials and some of this accent and was a decorated navy war hero. he was clean-cut for a hippy. he didn't have a stragley beard. but no other man appears before the committee had long hair covering his ears. he had a choice to make. he could have gotten a haircut and gre dressed like a senator. he chose to look like a war protester against the war. the sen tarred had never heard testim

i don't see a scenario where john mccain turns against a fellow warrior from vietnam. i think what mccain wants out of this is an "i told you so" moment, where he can say, i was right about the surge. and i'm sure he'll get that today. >> jane, you've been in support of the hagel nomination. is there a better explanation on cos when it comes to iran or when it comes to the nuclear issue? one of the things -- he clearly was somebody that never thought he was going to be in a confirmation hearing, since he left the senate. you know, when he signed on for the zero nuclear weapons thing, and that's got some folks on the armed services not happy. >> well, sure it does. but as he says in his own testimony, which i'm just reading now, he has a record, he stands by his record, he's made some mistakes, he's erolfed, thank goodness, on the gay issue, and he says in his testimony, he'll say it in a few minutes, that he fully supports obama's positions. and he'll be grilled about that and grilled on his past. but in the end, the senate is a club. he needs five republican votes. >>

the first vietnam veteran to serve as secretary of defense. i want someone who knows what words like before we send our young men and women back into harm's way who has been there and gets it and isn't going to be kowtowed by the neocon. >> he didn't ask whether or not it was a good idea to go into iraq and abandon afghanistan for seven years and try to go back seven years later and pick up the pieces when it was too late to do so. and i don't think you'll get anybody -- they have you team will agree that was a great idea particularly in retrospect to go to iraq. the question that mccain asked was whether or not the hyperbole that hagel had calling the surge the worst -- the biggest mistake in american military history since vietnam -- >> the biggest blunder since vietnam -- >> that was the question and hagel -- you can argue whether or not it was a good question to ask, whether or not mccain was trying to bully him, which he w was. you have to take issue with the fact that tag l did not answer that sharp grounder to him. he handled it poorly

those are acute in vietnam. solutions include a railw company that wants to use lessons learned in japan to help vietnam build cities of the future. >> reporter: in vietnam it's booming. people pour into the city looking for work. not everyone is moving forward. the traffic getting worse every year and dangerous too with more and more accidents. poor road infrastructure isn't the only problem. land prices have spiked. a unit was set up next to vietnam's largest city. he's trying to sell a business model that help japan during its period of economic growth. >> translator: industry in the area is already booming. we hope to contribute to developing not only industry but housing and services too. >> reporter: they will develop other areas along cities like tokyo. without a master plan cities concentrate in commercial areas. the farther the suburb, the more inconvenient it is to get to the city center. downtown traffic only gets worse. japan's private railway companies use a different model. first they build railway

and i remember the vietnam era very well. that, i think shaped all of us to a certain extent of how we looked after -- post vietnam -- of how we looked at if we had known what we knew before. i am sure that kind of guided you as you looked at the -- iraq. and i saw information we were given. if i had been a senator i probably would have voted also like many misled but after seeing five or six years of that unimportant to scenario play out, the surge and i know where you're coming from. would you say your experiences in vietnam and looking at that basically what sometimes misguided our misguided mission had been -- shaped a lot of your positions today? >> well, there's no question that as i have said this morning that my experience in vietnam very much guided questions, and i think i noted a couple times in my opening statement that it was one fundamental question i always ask, was the policy worthy of the men and women that we are asking to make the sacrifices? and i know there are differences of opinion. you mentioned iraq.

though i do think the army coming out of vietnam also reinforces the mistake. it rebuilds itself magnificently at the tactical level. it doesn't do anything about generalship. so tommy franks is not an aberration. he's not an anomaly. he's exactly what the army is trying to produce in the 1970s and 80s for which turns out they jumped at a time commanded us understand generalship, who thinks taking the enemy capital is the end of the war inspects about a 20-yard line and goes home. were back to football. >> register with baseball, right? >> i'm not even a football fan. i'm a baseball fan. >> okay, here. >> peter, adam, defense contract through. they served a little bit after the battle passed on. he touched on symbian earlier that faq to expound on and that is the difference between management and leadership in the mentioned harvard business school a couple different times and i heard commanders when i served on active duty in the army talk about management by object is inserted to business school approach to things. do you think that is something that has under

we had drafts in vietnam. we saw the effect of that. and we decided as a nation to take a gamble, to let every person who wished to wear the uniform give them that opportunity and to volunteer. no one is forced in there. that has got to be maintained. this man has the experience and graphs to and the strength to protect the all-volunteer force. i also was deeply impressed by the senate and the manner in which it confirmed john kerry. john kerry served in that time and he went through trials and tribulations and came home and faced the public the way that chuck did. the senate confirmed him with a very, very strong vote, and they sent him away ready to take on the enormity of his responsibility. now, i mention that because in my experience, i've seen a good deal of camaraderie and the competition between the secretaries of defense and the secretaries of state. it just sort of built in there and a lot of times sand gets in that gearbox, but it's important to the united states that they, having the major jurisdiction of most of the policy

those are acute in vietnam. solutions include a railway company that wants to use lessons learned in japan to help vietnam build cities of the future. >> reporter: in vietnam it's booming. people pour into the city looking for work. not everyone is moving forward. the traffic getting worse every year and dangerous too with more and more accidents. poor road infrastructure isn't the only problem. land prices have spiked. a unit was set up next to vietnam's largest city. he's trying to sell a business model that help japan during its period of economic growth. >> translator: industry in the area is already booming. we hope to contribute to developing not only industry but housing and services too. >> reporter: they will develop other areas along cities like tokyo. without a master plan cities concentrate in commercial areas. the farther the suburb, the more inconvenient it is to get to the city center. downtown traffic only gets worse. japan's private railway companies use a different model. first they build railw

for example, assumption going into vietnam. at some point the comments have a breaking point that we will reach before our breaking point. that turned out wrong. 1991, we give saddam hussein a good thumping. he will fall from power. actually turned out saddam hussein thought he won the were. we now know from the papers, he said i don't know why but the americans are getting a cease-fire. and so the end of the 91 war was botched partly because they don't have a thorough examination of the civil military love, and he said having a triumph, we open up a 20 year war with iraq. takes forever to resolve. to me, the real low point is lyndon johnson. lyndon johnson at one point has the joint chiefs into his office and they basically tried to lay down the law and said mr. president, we don't like the way your prosecuting the war. he curses them out in the most vulgar terms, which i won't use because c-span will get mad, and the chiefs leave. casino says i've never been talk to like that in my life. well, at that point, you put your star