'Christmas bombings' worked in Vietnam but won't drag Iran to table

Facing an impasse in negotiations to end the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon ordered an 11-day air campaign in December 1972 to bring North Vietnam back to the negotiating table. “I don’t want any more crap about the fact that we couldn’t hit this target or that one,” Nixon remarked to Admiral Thomas Moorer. “This is your chance to use military power effectively to win this war and if you don’t I’ll consider you personally responsible.” After nearly 2,000 sorties, 20,000 tons of ordnance, a...