R.I.P. Gen. William Westmoreland

Retired Gen. William Westmoreland died at age 91. His legacy was clouded by the media. Even in death his obituaries carry on the misinformation. Did he or did he not win his libel case against CBS?

AFP version.

The general sued CBS for libel, asking damages of 120 million dollars and testifying that he told Johnson that it would take another three to five years to win the war.

Westmoreland dropped the suit after four months, saying, "I consider that I have won. I'm going to try to fade away."

His compensation was a statement by CBS saying it respected the general's service and "never intended to assert and does not believe that General Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal ..."

AP version.

In 1982, he filed a $120 million lawsuit against CBS over a documentary "The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception," which implied he had deceived President Johnson and the public about enemy troop strength in Vietnam.

At the time, Westmoreland said the question "is not about whether the war in Vietnam was right or wrong, but whether in our land a television network can rob an honorable man of his reputation."

After an 18-week trial in New York, the case was settled shortly before it was to go to the jury.

CBS News merely rewrites the AP feed.

He was a good man. An honorable man, slandered and libeled by the MSM. The shallowness of their heroes becomes clear every day.