Well, Vietnam was really controlled by Michelin Rubber interests until
post-WWII.  General Ho saw an opportunity to move for independence in the
vacuum left by the departing Japanese occupation forces and the weakened
state of French military.  Interestingly enough, Ho courted US support for
his move to independence, but was rebuffed.  I don't believe he was a
dogmatic or even doctrinal Marxist, but an opportunist.  Both the Soviets
and the Chinese saw an opportunity for influence in the area and offered Ho
support.

The US has always had a nebulous policy towards nations or people-groups
seeking relief from oppression.  Our involvement in South East Asia was not
for nation-building or humanitarian reasons.  It was simply that Kennedy's
advisors, stung by Nixon's implications that the prez was "soft on
communism", were fearful of the "domino" effect.  In other words, the
political fate of the entire subcontinent of SE Asia rested on which way the
domino would fall in Vietnam.

Many people forget, too, that there was not just unilateral involvement by
the US during the sixties, but other nations contributed significant numbers
of troops to the Vietnam conflict--most noticeably, Australia.  The French,
after their stunning defeat at Diên Biên Phú on May 7, 1954, realized that a
military solution to the Vietnam problem was just too costly.  They cut
their losses and left Indochina for good.  Would that the US had learned
from France's mistake.  We did learn, 12 years and over 50,000 lives later.

-Kyle 
-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Alfred [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2000 8:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: U.S. War Crimes ...WAS PISS


In a message dated 03/06/2000 7:50:31 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Because the country was under French colonial rule at the time, Vietnam
 never signed the Articles.  Interestingly, Japan signed, but never ratified
 the treaty.  Hence the country's military leaders were able to justify the
 abyssmal treatment of civilians and POWs.
  >>

I didn't know these things, so I have learned something new today.