The Uncounted Enemy
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The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception was a controversial television program produced by George Crile III and aired by CBS on January 23, 1982.[1]
The program asserted that intelligence officers under the command of General William Westmoreland had manipulated intelligence estimates in 1967, to show far fewer Communist personnel in South Vietnam than were actually there, in order to create an impression that the Vietnam War was being won. Westmoreland sued for libel.
The trial, Westmoreland v. CBS, was approaching its end in 1985 when Westmoreland suddenly dropped his suit, citing a statement by CBS that Westmoreland interpreted as an apology. CBS did not retract anything that had been said in the broadcast, but said it had "never intended to assert, and does not believe, that General Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal in performing his duties as he saw them."[2]
CBS subsequently lost its libel insurance over the case.[1]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Evans, Katerine. "Declarations of Victory", The New York Times, 1987-04-05. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- Tom Mascaro. Uncounted Enemy, The. The Encyclopedia of Television. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
