Now hear this. Now hear this. We have you surrouned. [sic] Surrouned? My ass, hut that's A hrams.
—A poem by Lincoln Kirstein
General Creighton Abrams' gift for making the best of nasty situations goes back at least as far as the World War II incident those lines recall, in which he outbluffed a nest of German army troopers. His record in four years as U.S. commander in Viet Nam indicates that he has not lost the talent. Now he faces a still tougher task. Nominated last week by President Nixon to succeed General William C. Westmoreland as Army Chief of...