18 Months of War and Hubris: Israel's Leaders Should Read What Moshe Dayan Learned in Vietnam

Summer, 1966 The Vietnam War was at its peak.
Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were fighting in the jungles of Asia against the Viet Cong.

Upon arriving in Saigon, Dayan delves into detailed military briefings, a prelude to the raw encounters that await in the field.

His dissent unmistakable as Dayan witnesses American patrols' superficial efforts to impede the smuggling of Vietcong weapons, he brings forth a poignant critique, urging a reduction in force and a tactic of precision rather than an overwhelming show of might.

As his journey draws to a close, Dayan deduces the futility of the American endeavor, not in their capacity for destruction but in their inability to snuff out the flames of fervent resistance and independence burning within the Vietcong.

In 1966 when Moshe Dayan was tasked with roaming Western capitals and Vietnamese battlefields, the IDF hero immediately understood the futility of America's war. Plenty more of his brutal observations are relevant today.