"What was gained" was, at the time, a division of the two nuclear-armed communist powers against each other. Nuclear risk was reduced, at least in theory. Part of Nixon's strategic calculus, I am sorry to report, was that the destruction of half a million Indonesian communists meant that South Vietnam would be the last "domino" in the region. Something something about the deaths of millions being a statistic.
"What was gained" was, at the time, a division of the two nuclear-armed communist powers against each other. Nuclear risk was reduced, at least in theory. Part of Nixon's strategic calculus, I am sorry to report, was that the destruction of half a million Indonesian communists meant that South Vietnam would be the last "domino" in the region. Something something about the deaths of millions being a statistic.