Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive was a series of coordinated attacks by the Vietcong that took place in late January 1968; the battle was a major turning point in the Vietnam War. Due to conflicting intelligence reports about enemy troop movements, as well as due to the unwillingness of U.S. officials to acknowledge the continuing strength of enemy forces, both the U.S. military and the Army of South Vietnam were unprepared for the attack. Although the offensive was a military failure for the Vietcong, it did constitute a major psychological victory for the communist forces. The surprise attack also had political reverberations in the United States, as the ability of the enemy to launch a major attack flatly contradicted the optimistic rhetoric of the administration of Lyndon ...