Vo Nguyen Giap's comments- response

 

Hello Group,

 

Someone posted a comment by NVA Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap that he was surprised that we stopped our intense bombing of NVN when we did as they were licked.  A few comments are in order.  He and Ho Chi Minh defeated the French in the French Viet-Minh War (1946-1954) for various reasons.  One was that France was a colonial power trying to reassert itself after the Jpanese withdrawal.  Many people in Indochina equated the Viet Minh with anti-colonialism instead of bolshevism.  Another is that France didn't fight all out as the Legion and volunteers went to Indochina and not draftees.  Giap was defeated at Vinh Yen by Dead Man ((terminal cancer patient Gen. Jean Marie de Lattre de Tassigny)) leaving 6000 stiffs on the field.  He would be more careful at Dien Bien Phu taking one strongpoint at a time in a classic siege operation. The French lost the will to continue, and trouble was brewing in Algeria.

 

We entered in an advisory and logistics effort for SVN to maintain its independence following the Paris peace accords.  ARVN didn't really get up to snuff, Iron Mike and Hanging Sam thought of a conventional invasion like Korea and weren't training ARVN to deal with VC insurgency.  That the NVA would cut through Laos and Cambodia to get to SVN did not seem to be a concern of the General Staff or Foggy Bottom.  In point of fact ARVN couldn't cut the mustard which led to an increased advisory effort and ultimately American combat troops.  There seemsed to be no strategy to win or clearly defined mission, maybe a hope that if we fought the VC and NVA for a few years and not lose, they would up and quit.  Bus Wheeler is said to have asked one intelligent question in his life: Mr. President, what is the mission.

 

Foggy Bottom and the Embassy with rules of engagement basically benefited the enemy and might better have served this country if they had defected to the other side.   Ambassador Billy Sullivan would not allow airstrikes in Laos ((interdicory effort and the Secret War)) without his embassy's approval.  Later as ambassador to Iran he told Jim Dude that teh country was unstable under the Shah and the Ayatollah could being stability- enter the Crazy Anti-Christ, but that's another story.  Foggy Bottom screwed up big time much earlier by noting as non-aggressors we would not annex any part of NVN guaranteeing the NVA that at worst we would fight them to a draw but they couldn't lose.

 

We would essentially win about every major campaign we fought with the Colbybird program ((Phoenix)) later making inroads into VC mid-level cadre.  A serious problem after winning a battle or campaign was lack of follow up and non-invasion of enemy sanctuaries for which we have Foggy Bottom to thank. ARVN would have serious problems as it had something to be against but nothing much to be for. A lot of Americans didn't want to go, and military service being hazardous and sometimes fatal had much to do with conscientious objection.  In time the New Left would infiltrate a major political party and help the bolsheviks.  Another problem was the perception of the Tet offensive as a major defeat rather than a strategic surprise which we were able to overcome, and we have Cronkite to thank for that.  Gen. Giap may have tried to repeat Dien Bien Phu at Khe Sanh, but our guys were better prepared and had some 50 times as much airpower as the French. 

 

There was a lessening level of enemy activity after the NVA and VC defeat during Tet and after Khe Sanh.  Hopes of peace negotiations brought about a bombing halt of NVN, the Paris peace talks solved nothing.  LBJ and Tricky Dick would withdraw troops, and Tricky Dick would end our ground combat role turning it over to ARVN which wasn't ready to take over the war.  The 1972 NVA offensive was halted by ARVN with massive help from the our Tactical Air Force. In 1975 there would be no help from the Tactical Air Force, and few ARVN units would perform well. In late 1972 Tricky Dick authorized bombing of NVN.  This is after bolshevist propaganda explained the bombing halt by saying the Aemrican pirates were defeated in the air.  With Yankee phi cos fragging the country, NVN was willing to negotiate.  Peaceniks and some liberal politicians opposed resumption of the bombing, and it was halted prematurely as Vo Nguyen Giap indicated.  The Paris peace accord (1973) was hailed as bringing peace.  It did provide for our withdrawal but said nothing about the NVA.  Dr. Hank said it made no provision for them to stay.  They stayed, and we know the rest.

 

Andrew

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