Jake Grafton thinks the strategy of America's leaders in Vietnam is too timid to allow its soldiers to win the war. If you were to argue against Jake's viewpoint, what evidence or lessons could you use from America's subsequent engagement in wars in other countries that have entrenched cultural heritages similar to that of Vietnam, such as Afghanistan and Iraq?

Risking one's life to bomb targets of no perceived significance certainly would be demoralizing, but Jake admits that he does not know who makes the target decisions, and he is not involved in political considerations. The people on both sides of this issue seem to have insights and blindnesses. What are they?

Two characters in this novel, New Guy and Harvey "Rabbit" Wilson, display cowardice. In both cases, they apparently are driven by a sense of self-preservation. If the war is being conducted in...