John Thornton wrote:
>
>
> My personal believe is that Nixon never intended to use nukes, only that
> he was using the Mad Man strategy . He may however have gone through
> with it if the bluff didn't work. No one will ever know.
Well, according to one of his aides he _did_ plan to use them, and the November Demo changed his mind. No one can know his secret thoughts of course, but the evidence is fairly strong.
ALSO -- according to Haldeman's memoir, the tipping point for deciding the war could not be won was a much smaller demonstration at Ohio State -- which he had regarded as "safe" territory. His visit had been kept secret, but leaked out and some students demonstrated. That opposition in the heart of Mid-America did the trick.
There is no bit of ruling class propaganda more vicious than the idea that demonstrations and petitions (PETITIONS -- not private letters) are ineffective. Thousands in the streets of D.C. represent 10s of thousands NOT MERELY OPPOSED but ACTIVELY ENGAGED in opposition. And petitions reflect organization and cooperation -- people talking with each other.
Short of armed conflict there is nothing that has as much impact on policy as large demonstrations.
And large demonstrations grow out of protracted work expressed in SMALL demonstrations -- so under some circumstances scattered small demos can be absolutely terrifying to rulers.
The number of people who don't believe this reflects the strength of ruling-class ideology.
Carrol