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One often hears that antiwar protests in the late 60s and early 70s were ultimately failures, since they did not appreciably speed up the U.S. withdrawal from Indochina. . But afterward, those controlling U.S. foreign policy were so anxious about being met with similar popular unrest that they refused to commit U.S. forces to any major ground conflict for almost 30 years. It took 9/11, an attack that led to 1,000s of civilian deaths on U.S. soil, to fully overcome the notorious “Vietnam syndrome” and even then, the war planners made an almost obsessive effort to ensure the wars were effectively protest-proof. . Propaganda was incessant, the media was brought on board, experts provided exact calculations on body bag counts, and the rules of engagement were carefully written to keep the count below that. . - David Graeber