Vietnam – An Epic History of a Tragic War

By Max Hastings

Two facts about Vietnam needs our attention; First, the Vietnamese people refused to be cowed down by imperialistic powers, even if it took a thousand years to throw them out of their country. Chinese imperialism in 1426 after nearly 1000 years of submission to Chineae rule; secondly, the French were sent out in 1954 after subjugation from 1889 and lastly their heroic defeat of American occupation and unification of their country in 1975. The bloodiest liberation from American occupation consumed  nearly two to three million of Vietnamese  lives compared to 60000 american lives,which was at the rate of 1 : 200.

This age old and almost hereditary quality engendered in them the chacteristics of sacrifice to throw occupiers from their midst. For example, Ho Chi Minh rejected the former Governor General’s palace as his personal residence in favour of a gardener’s cottage.  Rest of the book is consumed by the machinations of American military to wipe out the guerrilla forces.  Battles at forest hideouts, paddy fields and American military deployment, both equipment and manpower as well as swift movement resulting in disproportionate loss of Vietnamese lives take up a major portions of the rest of the book.  There are repeated references to massive losses on the Vietnamese side with only minimum loss on the American side. 

In the face of defeat, the author indulges in the favorite past time, that is indulging in demeaning the victory of communists.  He says, “At least under Diem and Thieu there was honour among thieves.   But these party people are wolfing down everything in sight.  Was it really such a good idea to throw out the Americans?”  Again the author brings to light the scene the sight of northern cadres and officers, after being subjected to years of rigors of military life, suddenly confronted (in Saigon) with what seemed to be fairy tale riches for the taking.  It was as if the city has been invaded by a swarm of locusts.

How did the Americans view their involvement in Vietnam?  The author concludes, “While some acknowledged the stuggle (?) as a horrible debacle waged by methods that were often counter-productive and sometimes (?) arguably immoral, some others viewed it as merely a failed campaign in a successful world war….(that) had to be fought to preserve the diplomatic and military credibility of the United States.

With such delusional display of their place in the modern world, there cannot be any doubt that Americans would continue to intervene in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries and get their noses bloodied.