A Bright Shining Lie Page #7

We can go to my family's home by the sea.

Please come, John.

I can't.

- Who is it?

- General Weyand.

Look, I'm sorry, Lee, I gotta go.

Be careful.

Yeah, go, Fred.

(Fireworks cracking)

(# Easy listening lounge music)

(Man) Happy New Year.

(John) Happy New Year.

Admiral, very nice to meet you.

Happy New Year.

- Good evening, Mr Ambassador.

- Hey, John.

- Can I have a word with you, sir?

- Sure.

- Sir, did you receive General Weyand's alert?

- No.

- Are you sure?

- Absolutely.

Our intelligence indicates the enemy's

about to plan a major offensive.

- Where?

- Here in Saigon, sir.

Why didn't the General Westmoreland

tell me this?

General Westmoreland

doesn't agree with our analysis

and I feel he's about to make

a grave error in judgment.

- (Guest) Good evening.

- I'll take this up with you in the morning.

Welcome, Major, good to see you.

Try to relax, John.

Evening. Help yourself to a drink,

enjoy yourself.

Nice party, huh?

All that's missing is Nero and his fiddle.

Did you see who's here?

They made him a general. Rising star

at the palace. Inspiring, huh?

- (Fireworks fizz and bang)

- (All) Oh.

(# Pianist plays Auld Lang Syne)

(Drumbeats, fireworks)

Hi. Me?

Hello. Hello. Hello.

(American) Hey, baby, how much?

(Woman) Hi, GI.

Hello, GI, I really, really like you. (Blows kiss)

# This is one of those days... #

(Sighs)

(Man shouts in Vietnamese outside)

(Gunfire, explosion)

(Machine-gun fire)

Sh*t.

(Man shouts)

(Shouting)

Let's go, head for the embassy.

- Let's go. Let's go.

- Man, get us out of here.

- You know what the hell's going on?

- Give me that radio.

Lightning-six, this is Vann. Over.

Lightning-six, this is Vann. Over.

(Man on radio) The airport's under attack.

He's up on the roof.

Well, get him on the horn, God damn it. Over.

Come on, get those bags up here.

(Man shouts)... field of fire.

Ah!

- We got them up our ass here, where the...

- Holy sh*t.

- Control...

- Our guys are firing into the embassy.

Charlie's taken the f***ing embassy, man.

(Heavy gunfire, shouting)

(John) Come on, let's go. Go.

(lndistinct shouting)

(Man) We need a...

- Who's in charge?

- Somebody down there.

F*** this, man.

(lndistinct shouting)

John.

- Yes, sir.

- I was in bed. It's unbelievable, John.

They've taken the radio station

they're about to take over the palace.

Get General Weyand on the horn.

It's John Vann, sir.

John, we're holding them here.

What about there? Over.

They're pushing to take the whole city.

We got any troops, Fred?

I kept six battalions in reserve.

I'm sending four to the city.

That's great news. Keep that line open.

- What's happening?

- We got the men. We can hold them.

Now CIA men and MPs

have gone into the embassy

and are trying to get the snipers out.

We've got two more alert forces

that are trying to push him out this way

but he's heavily fortified.

232 Gls killed and 900 wounded.

(Broadcaster) 21 towns and cities attacked...

...snipers

and suicide commandos...

The palace, the radio station,

the Philippine embassy...

...sniper fire still coming...

...civilians caught in the crossfire.

Annie.

Hi, baby. You OK, the baby OK?

Don't worry about a thing, Gran,

I'm gonna take care of all of you.

I gotta go. I gotta go.

All right?

(Broadcaster) The official explanation, that

it's an attempt to divert American forces...

The Vietcong paid dearly for their terrorism...

The enemy is mounting

some last desperate campaign.

- Clean this up.

- (John) We're mopping up.

What's the word at the radio station? Over.

I see, real good, keep us posted. Over.

Keep this line open.

John. Ah.

We did it, Fred. They threw their best

at us and we beat 'em.

- Yeah, it got a bit crazy out there.

- (Man) General Westmoreland.

- What's your assessment of the situation?

- (Bang)

That's just our guys clearing up

some unexploded M-79 rounds.

The enemy appears to be trying

to take over South Vietnam.

- The Vietcong has very deceitfully...

- (Bang)

...taken advantage of the Tet truce

in order to create maximum consternation

in South Vietnam.

Particularly in the, er, populated areas.

- John?

- Mr Ambassador.

- Good work, thank you very much.

- General Weyand should take the credit, sir.

- Well, I'm aware of that, thank you.

- I'll tell you this, you throw a hell of a party.

Yeah, a real blowout.

Yeah. Yeah. Let's get a picture.

- Muek.

- Yes, sir.

Get a picture.

Little hands. Come on.

(Johnson) I shall not seek and I will not accept

the nomination of my party

for another term as your president.

I, Richard Milhous Nixon,

do solemnly swear

that I will faithfully execute

the office of president of the United States.

North Vietnam cannot defeat

or humiliate the United States.

Only Americans can do that.

(Gl) We get really stoned. Then, you know,

like, who cares about the war?

Gentlemen and ladies, as you know,

General Westmoreland

has returned to Washington

and General Abrams has replaced him

as commander of ground forces.

This reorganisation is part

of the president's Vietnamisation strategy.

Now the new second-in-command,

General Weyand,

is here to brief you on the implementation

of this phase of the war.

Ambassador, with Abrams in and Westy out,

is this an admission that

Westmoreland's strategy was a failure?

- General Westmoreland was promoted.

- (Journalists clamour)

Ladies and gentlemen,

we now believe that the South Vietnamese

are ready to take on a primary role

in driving back the enemy's forces,

their divisions, North Vietnamese regulars

across the western border.

- Is this an American withdrawal?

- No, no. In no way is this a withdrawal.

(Weyand) It's a change of strategy

and I have appointed the former Lieutenant

Colonel John Vann, whom you all know...

John, please step up here?

...to act as my deputy for military functions,

who will help me implement this strategy.

He will serve as a commanding general

for the central highlands region.

Please, General, help me clarify this.

You are placing a US civilian in command

of ten divisions of south Vietnamese troops

in the central highlands, which is a large area,

while the rest of the US troops pull back?

We're not pulling back.

The South Vietnamese are moving forward.

If it's not a withdrawal, what is Vietnamisation?

Well, that's what we're trying to explain to you

if you just, er, pay attention.

John, you've always advocated that the US

take control here in Saigon, yes?

That's correct. But Tet has proved

that the South Vietnamese

are capable and willing

to take control of this war.

- (Journalists clamour)

- The American people

have been completely demoralised

by recent developments.

Not at all. Not at all. On the contrary.

Our intelligence indicates it is the Vietcong

who have been demoralised since Tet.

Wait, I'm highly confused.

I find this contradictory

because, with this restructuring,

the South Vietnamese are not in command

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