The Indian Govt. the Indian armed forces, and the Indian people, should all listen to these words in the historical address of Walter Cronkite, the famous anchorman of the American CBS Evening News on 27th Frbruary 1968, as it reflects on the situation in Kashmir today :
" To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations.
But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could "
Walter Cronkite was an American journalist who covered World War 2, the Nuremburg Trials, the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc. He was so fair and objective in his reporting that he became known as ' the most trusted man in America '. And when he gave this address after visiting Vietnam in mid February 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said " If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost the war.".
Soon afterwards Johnson announced suspension of the bombing of North Vietnam, and his intension not to seek another term as President.
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