re: do you think it's possible to win a war without putting boots on the ground

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Well in nam. Had we dropped an a bomb on Hanoi. I say they give up.

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They did give up. Go read up on the Paris Peace Accords of 1973.

Two things made them give up.

1. Renewed heavy and sustained bombing of the North. Go read up on Operation Linebacker. This strategic bombing offensive devastated the North's ability to sustain their armies in the south and totally decimated the North's air defense.

2. The failure of the Easter Offensive against South Vietnam. The failure of this offensive proved the ARVN could defeat the NVA in a conventional campaign. The North was left unable to launch any major offensive operations following the abysmal failure of the Tet Offensive in 1968. Tet, in addition to completely Destroying the Viet Cong as an effective combat force, also left the NVA decimated to the point it took almost 4 years for them to rebuild enough of a force to once again go on the offensive. The failure of this new offensive in 1972, coupled with the bombing of the north which had totally destroyed by mid 72 the once formidable NVA air defenses made it clear to the North they could not win the war. Thus, they were left no other option that to agree to end the war.