United States who are insisting on continuation of their "dirty war" in South Vietnam, Both the Vietnamese victors at Dien-Bien-Phu and their defeated French foes, looking at the American position, in South Vietnam, predicted disaster for the Pentagon,
General Vo Nguyen Giap, the commander of the Vietnamese forces that won at Dien-Bien-Phu said at a meeting in Hanoi May 6: "The ~ U.S. imperialists are now trying to intensify armed intervention in an attempt to save the situation. . . But. . . no mighty troops and talented generals, no modern weapons, no modern tactics. . . can defeat the undaunted will of our people and save the enemy from ignominious failure."
The French view was well expressed in a long anonymous letter from "an observer living in Vietnam, who is in good position. to judge the human and political realities, " which was published in the Paris daily Le Monde [May 5] under the title, "A War without Perspective Pursued in Chaos." Because of the intimate ‘knowledge
displayed by the author on what is occurring in South Vietnam, wo have translated extensive excerpts:
The situation in South Vietnam is worsening not only beoause of the fact that the war is being widened, but also because of the internal dissension which is increasing, the astutely conducted opposing propaganda and also the lack of civic responsibility among the ruling classes of the society,
The army itself has lost a great deal of its former unity. ... too many among the military, sometimes the top chiefs, conduct themselves in an inadmissible way with regard to the population, recalling the sad example of the China of Chiang Kai-shek on the eve of the seizure of power by the generally much more disciplined Communist armies,
Under such conditions, the pyschological success won by the army of the National Liberation Front, above all in the countryside, is not astonishing.
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As at the time of the war conducted by the French, which ended with Dien-Bien-Phu, those who have money are doing good business. Today it is with the Americans that people try to become rich, They construct buildings for them, which they rent at exorbitant prices, thinking, right or wrong, without doubt, that this is going to last indefinitely. . . Which shows very well that there is nothing new under the sun!
Travelers who stop at Saigon notice little that would indicate a people fighting for their liberty. Aside from the military trucks loaded with Vietnamese or American soldiers that are seen on patrol night and day, everything seems normal, The daily life continues: meals, cooktails, expensive receptions, nothing is lacking. People pretend not to notice the densely inhabited areas where crime, juvenile delinquency and prostitution, these fruits of poverty, proliferate. . . Of course, in the evening, it can happen that you hear the dull sound of cannon firing in the distance, but you are quiokly reassured: perhaps it's drills after all, The Thu-Duc Military School is so close, . . You end up by even forgetting that men are falling by the hundreds and that the hospitals are full,
As for the unfortunate peasant, caught between the frying pan and the fire, he remains silent -- for a long time it has been his habit ~- or, because he is threatened, he ends up giving all the more information! To survive is his sole aim, Thus he must escape dangers of all kinds: the Vietcongs who come to his home at night,
who sometimes lead away his sons because of logistic needs or to . educate them in their manner; the nationalist soldier who is not. always correct in attitude toward him and who takes advantage of the fact he has a gun and the peasant doesn't; the napalm dumped in abundant amounts which threatens to roast him along with his poor straw hut and his family. How will he ever find peace as long as "this lasts"{ Even the strategic hamlets, converted into "hamlets. of the new life" do not always protest him. - « He has had enough, but how can he make his voice heard?
The present government has good intentions, It would like to improve life in the countryside, but the question is by what means can this be achieved in such a context?
The truth is that no solution is in.sight, unless the war is- . stopped, But that does not seem to be really envisaged by the present masters of policy who dictate their orders to the Vietnamese -pulers. The slogan is to be optimistic no matter what, and the official deolarations in line with this, come one after the other even from the lips of the great stars" who come from the U.S.A. to regularly inspect the country, They are not miserly about the blood of others even if some of their fellow citizens from Ohio or Arizona are included{
When a solution consisting of neutralizing all of Vietnam and which could perhaps even be extended to all of South-East Asia is proposed, it is rejected as if it came from the devil. . . They won't even look it over. ‘This is frightening and quite distressing if one notes the number, the very large number , here who favor hat solution without daring to say so. .
Is it right to act that way? The question hag been posed by us.
We are answered: It is necessary to hold back Communism, Very good. We are not unaware of guerrilla tactics and the infiltration so dear to the Communists. - But.,can you put an end to that by military means? Nothing is less certain, Because the enemy is praotically invisible, He goes underground, he steals away, and in that way he is everywhere present, . Present even in the cities; in the administrations, in the ministries, His propaganda penetrates every -home, more or less insidiously, through radio Hanoi or Peking, through leaflets profusely distributed, even door to door, Propaganda directed, naturally, against American imperialism which is endlessly denounced... . Thus an anti~American climate has been oreated, reminiscent of that in many countries in South America, that can > touch off an explosion of hate tomorrow in which the thousands of "advisors" and their families risk paying the bill.
The hope remains on the other. side of the Atlantic that somehow or other they can get by until November, the date of the presi~ dential elections, which seems to govern everything, But it is not sure that they can reach this objective without something happening in the domestic or foreign field,
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It must be said that such a conception -- to subordinate everything to the American elections -- is not only astonishing but has an odious character. Is it right to kill people for months (General Khanh said at his last press conference that 2,200 had been killed en his side just since the beginning of the year!), to ruin entire areas of land by dumping tons of napalm, and all this only to win the bets in their election campaign?
We are writing this letter while the SEATO conference is being held at Manila. Is it not. highly desirable that the French view be adopted, and that the U.S.A. itself end up by rallying to it, letting their pride and the result of the next elections suffer a little?
Because in the end, above everything else, there is mankind, and mankind cannot live and develop except in peace, this peace to which he aspires much more than is admitted or is seemed to be believed on the other.side of the Atlantic.