Bill, I really don't know what Info Ops people do so I can't comment. What I hope to avoid are the days in '68-'73 when just about everything Military Assistance Command-Vietnam or DoD said was believed to have been false or misleading. We're the good guys and we should avoid saying or doing things that lead to the perception that we're not.
One aspect of the Vietnam War that is not much commented upon is the extent to which the U.S. effort there received favorable coverage from the press prior to Tet in 1968; most of the guys running the media then were World War II veterans who were trying to do their part for the country. Whether right or wrong, Tet -- which was a defeat for the National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese Army -- was also a turning point in the U.S. perception of the war. Many editors and journalists felt they'd been too trusting of Westmoreland's and MACV's upbeat pronouncements. Afterwards MACV got no more free rides, in fact public opinion and press coverage went far, often unfairly, in the other direction.
In the here and now we don't need people on our own side undermining our credibility.
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