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To What End (By Ward Just)

<< February | January 2005

Report from Vietnam

“Ignorance in Vietnam was bliss. Nothing in an American military officer’s background equipped him to deal with a situation of the complexity of the Binh Chanhs of South Vietnam. The problem, as reflective Americans were beginning to discover, was not primarily military. It was primarily political, just as the cliché had always said.”

- Ward Just, in To What End

To What End was one of the first books to question the legitimacy of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Written by Washington Post correspondent Ward Just in just a few weeks during the summer of 1967, the book captures well the ambiguities and complexities of the conflict in Vietnam. A short read, To What End does not provide any sort of comprehensive history of the war; it is instead a collection of essays and anecdotes derived from events that took place during the eighteen months Just served as a correspondent in Vietnam.

To What End is unusual for its "real-time" perspective. Decades later, many have pondered Vietnam long and hard, yet Ward Just's words were penned amidst of the conflict, before the Tet Offensive, before any widespread acknowledgement that America was not – in fact – winning the war. The book is a good one for those unable (or unwilling) to dive into voluminous tomes on the history of Vietnam. In addition to gaining a sense of the moral ambiguities involved, readers are given an introduction to the historical subject of Vietnam and – particulary since the book is powerful and well written – generally walk away yearning for more.

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