“The most disastrous of all America's undertakings in its whole two hundred years of its history," said George R. Kennan, professor at the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, on the Vietnam War. In January 1950, communist nations, led by the People's Republic of China (PRC), recognised the Viet Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam as the government of Vietnam. Non-Communist nations recognised the French-backed State of Vietnam in Saigon led by former Emperor Bao Dai the following month. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 convinced many Washington policymakers that the war in Indochina was an example of communist expansionism directed by the Kremlin. In September, the US created a Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy, and train Vietnamese soldiers. By 1954, the US had supplied 300,000 small arms and spent $1 billion in support of the French military effort and was shouldering 80 per cent of the cost of the war. There were also talks between the French and Americans in which the possible use of three tactical nuclear weapons was considered, though how seriously this was considered and by whom are even now vague and contradictory. One version of plan for the proposed Operation Vulture envisioned sending 60 B-29s from US bases in the region, supported by as many as 150 fighters launched from US Seventh Fleet carriers, to bomb Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap's positions. The plan included an option to use up to three atomic weapons on Viet Minh positions. Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave this nuclear option his backing. US B-29s, B-36s, and B-47s could have executed a nuclear strike, as could carrier aircraft from the Seventh Fleet. US carriers sailed to the Tonkin gulf, and reconnaissance flights over Dien Bien Phu were conducted during the negotiations. The plan involved the Joint Chiefs of Staff drawing up plans to use 3 small tactical nuclear weapons in support of the French. Richard Nixon, then Vice President and a so-called "hawk" on Vietnam, suggested that the US might have to "put American boys in". President Eisenhower made American participation contingent on British support, but London was opposed. In the end, convinced that the political risks outweighed the possible benefits, Eisenhower decided against the intervention. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1953-1954) marked the end of French involvement in Indochina. The Viet Minh and their mercurial commander Vo Nguyen Giap handed the French a stunning military defeat, and on May 7, 1954, the French Union garrison surrendered. At the Geneva Conference the French negotiated a ceasefire with the Viet Minh. Independence was eventually won by Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, and under the terms of the Geneva Convention, civilians were to be given the opportunity to freely move between the two provisional states. Elections throughout the country were to be held, according to the Geneva accords, but were blocked by the South Vietnamese President, who feared a communist victory. Around one million northerners, mainly Catholics, fled south, fearing persecution by the communists, following an American propaganda campaign using slogans such as, "The Virgin Mary is heading south", and aided by a US funded $93 million relocation programme, which included ferrying refugees with the Seventh Fleet. It is estimated that as many as two million more would have left had they not been stopped by the Viet Minh. Dear Egyptian Mail readers, your contributions to and/or comments on articles published in this corner are welcome. We promise to publish whatever is deemed publishable at the end of this series. [email protected]
