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/ St. Clair's Scorching New History of a Decade of War
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Today's
Stories
May
7, 2004
Robert
Fisk
An Illegal and Immoral War
Ron
Jacobs
UnAmerican? I Wish It Were So
May
6, 2004
Jeffrey
St. Clair
They Did It for Jessica: Smeared with
Shit; Kicked to Death
Kathy
Kelly
May Day in Pekin Prison: Prison Labor
for the War Machine
Werther
The Sunk Cost Fallacy: War as Vegas
Casino Game
Lawrence
Ferlinghetti
Totalitarian Democracy
Robert
Fisk
"Smoke Him": Video Shows Wounded
Men Being Shot by US Helicopter
John
Janney
Torturing the Way to Freedom?
Christopher
Ketcham
Outlaw Heterosexual Marriage Now!
Alan
Farago
Dead Oceans: So Long, Thanks for the Fish
Sam
Hamod
Bush on Arab TV: Worthless and Demeaning
James
Brooks
Sullen Spring
William
S. Lind
On the Brink of Defeat in Iraq
May
5, 2004
Maj.
Gen. Antonio M. Taguba
Complete US Army Report on Abuse of
Iraqi Prisoners
Kathleen
and Bill Christison
Kerry: a Lost Cause for Progressives?
Will
Youmans
Deal with the Devil: a Palestinian
Zionist and the End of the World
Patrick
B. Barr
Terrorists R Us: the Powerful are Exempt from the Label
Lawrence
Magnuson
Nightline's All-American Morgue
Greg
Moses
Pocketbook of Denuded Ideals
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Tormenting Prisoners, Torturing
Truth
Lee
Ballinger
Cinco de Mayo and Unity
Gilbert
Achcar
Bush's Cakewalk into the Iraq Quaqmire
Website
of the Day
Operation Phoenix & Iraq
May
4, 2004
Human
Rights Watch
A Timeline of Torture and Abuse Allegations
and Responses
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Privatized Torture
David
Peterson
CBS, Self-Censorship & Iraq
Barry
Lando
CACI's Private Torture Chambers
Patrick
Cockburn
Torture: Iraqis Disgusted, But Not Surprised
Dr.
Susan Block
Indecent Insurgents: Watch What You Say
Fidel
Castro
A Mindless, Unnecessary War
Mike
Whitney
Empire of Torture
Sonali
Kolhatkar
How to Stop the War: Demonstrate Against
John Kerry
Josh
Frank
The Lost Sierra Club
Stan
Goff
The Role: Another Open Letter to US Troops in Iraq
Agustin
Velloso
Spare Us Your Disgusting Ethics
Stew
Albert
American Know-How
Website
of the Day
Scenes from a Cover-Up
May
3, 2004
Virginia
Tilley
Let the Wall of Silence Fall
May
1 / 2, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
An Army in Disgrace, a Policy
in Tatters, the Real Prospect of Defeat
Robert
Fisk
"Good Guys" Who Can Do No
Wrong
Alexander
Cockburn
Watching Niagara: Stupid Leaders,
Useless Spies, Angry World
Heather
Williams
Gringo, We're Going Home: Latin
American Troops Flee Iraq
Diane
Rejman
An Army Vet on Torture in Iraq:
Abu Ghraib as My Lai?
Diane
Christian
Blood Spilling: Osama, Bush and
Sharon Speak the Same Language
Patrick
Cockburn
Seems Like Old Times in Fallujah
Dave
Lindorff
Bush's Torturous Logic: Shocked,
Shocked, Shocked
Chris
Floyd
Suicide Bomber: Neocons, Nihilists
and Annihilation
April
29 / 30, 2004
Dave
Zirin
A Pawn in Their Game: the Unlonesome
Death of Pat Tillman
Kathy
Kelly
The Warden's Tour
Greg
Weiher
Fallujah and the Warsaw Ghetto: the
Banality of Evil
Michael
S. Ladah
Terrorism and Assassination: the
Ultimate Depception
Patrick
Cockburn
The Fallujah Mutinies
April
28, 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
Meet Congressman Know-Nothing:
Tom Tancredo
Wendy
Brinker
The Politics of the Numb
Faisal
Kutty
The Dirty Work of Canadian Intelligence
John
Chuckman
Seeking the Evil One
Mike
Whitney
Flag-Draped Coffins and the Seattle Times
Tom
Mountain
Rwanda and the F***** Word
Graeme
Greenback
The Iraqi Alamo: a CNN/CIA Production
Tracy
McLellan
The War Comes Home
M.
Junaid Alam
We are the Barbarians
William
Loren Katz
Iraq, the US and an Old Lesson
April 27, 2004
James
Davis
The Colombia 3 Acquitted
Dave
Lindorff
Chalabi as Prosecutor
Bruce
Schneier
Terrorist Threats and Political
Gain
Cockburn
/ Sengupta
British Generals Resist Calls for
More Troops to Aid Americans in Iraq
Walt
Brasch
Presidential Letters: The Day I
Was Asked to Feed an Elephant
Saul
Landau
The Empire in Denial and the Denial
of Empire
April 26, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Crossing the Shia Line: US Troops
Prepare to Enter Najaf
Wayne
Madsen
Trading Places: Will the US Go the Way of the USSR?
Grover
Furr
Protest, Rebellion, Commitment
Elaine
Cassel
Lies About the Patriot Act
Mickey
Z.
Inspired by Pat Tillman?
Greg
Moses
Bremer's De-De-Ba'athjfication Gambit
Gila
Svirsky
Anarchy in Our Souls
Uri
Avnery
Vanunu and the Terrible Secret
April 24 / 25, 2004
William
A. Cook
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Kerry
and Bush Melt into One
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Stryking Out: a General, GM and the Army's Latest Tank
Brandy
Baker
A Revitalized Women's Movement? Let's Hope So
Robert
Fisk
A Warning to Those Who Dare Criticize Israel in the Land of Free
Speech
Ben
Tripp
October Surmise: a Case of Worst Scenarios
Nelson
Valdés
"Submit or Die": Iraq and the American Borg
Lucson
Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Return to the Future
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Killed Pat Tillman
Mark
Scaramella
Does Anybody Know Anything?
Patrick
Cockburn
The Return of Saddam's Generals
Gary
Engler
Welcome to La Paz: a Vacation in Tear Gas
Col.
Dan Smith
Whistling in the Dark: Israel, Palestine and Bush
Greg
Weiher
Iraq is Utterly Unlike Vietnam...
Elaine
Cassel
Life on the Outside: a Review
Vanessa
Jones
Letter from Australia: Why an Independent Won Sydney
Jim
French
Agriculture's Bullied Market
Hammond
Guthrie
Al Aronowitz, Bob Dylan and The Beatles
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Holt, Albert, LaMorticella
April 23, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
The Only Solution is Immediate Withdrawal
Dave
Lindorff
Imagination Deficit Disorder
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Contractors and Mercenaries: the Rising Corporate Military Monster
Norman
Solomon
Country Joe Band, 2004: "What Are We Fighting For?"
Cynthia
McKinney
All Things Are Not Equal: the Perils of Globalization
CounterPunch
Wire
A Bitch Called Wanda
Karyn
Strickler
Sierra Club, Inc.
Hammond
Guthrie
Yellow Caked in the Face
Paul
de Rooij
Graveyard of Justifications: Glossary
of the Iraqi Occupation
April 22, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
When Terror Came to Basra: "I
Saw a Minibus of Children on Fire"
Tanya
Reinhart
The Wall Behind Disengagement
Lance
Selfa
Why is Kucinich Still in the Race?
Josh
Frank
Street Fighting Man? Kucinich's Pulled Punches
Sen.
Robert Byrd
Bush Owes America Answers on Iraq
William
S. Lind
Why We Get It Wrong
Mickey
Z.
Undoing the Latches
Robert
Jensen
Why They Fast: Remembering the Victims of the World Bank
John
L. Hess
The New York Times from 30,000 Feet
April
21, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Yeats on Iraq
Alfredo
Castro
Colombia's Forgotten Prisoners
Dr.
Susan Block
Bush's Taliban Drug Deal
William
A. Cook
George 1 to George 2
Jack
Random
Iraq and Vietnam
Jean-Guy
Allard
Alarcon Meets the Editors
Mike
Whitney
Charade in the Desert
Bill
Christison
Only Major Policies Changes Can
Help Washington Now
April 20, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Bush and Kerry Share a Problem
Stan
Cox
Wal-Mart's Magic Numbers
Bruce
Anderson
On Listening to Air America
Joseph
Kalvoda
Czech Mate for Condi
Greg
Moses
Yesterday's Intelligence
Stan
Goff
The Democrats and Iraq
Website
of the Day
Santorum Happens
April 19, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
The "Central Hand" of the
Resistance
Mike
Whitney
Bob Woodward's Imperial Trifles
Douglas
Valentine
52 Pick-Up and the 100-to-1
Rule
John
Chuckman
The Sharon Annex: Evil Does Often
Triumph
Doug
Giebel
Welcome to the Club
Rahul
Mahajan
Hospital Closings and War Crimes
April
16 / 18, 2004
Robert
Fisk
Bush Legitimizes Terror
Saul
Landau
Subverting Brazil and Cuba
Dave
Lindorff
Paying for War: $2,150 per Family
and Counting
Brandy
Baker
Fallujah's Collateral Damage
Mickey
Z.
The Left Attacks from the Right
Bruce
Jackson
The Bush Press Conference: Gott Mit
Uns
Norman
Solomon
How the "NewsHour" Changed
History
Alexander
Cockburn
Bush, Kerry and Empire
April
15, 2004
Greg
Moses
Follow the Families, Not the Script
Virginia
Tilley
The Carnage According to Gen. Kimmitt:
Just Change the Channel
Ron
Jacobs
They Coulda Been Champions of the
World: Hurricane Carter and Ron Kovic
Michael
Neumann
A Happy Compromise: Hate Crimes
Reporting in the Toronto Globe and Mail
April
14, 2004
Tom
Reeves
Return to Haiti: an American Learning
Zone
Reza
Fiyouzat
Japan and Iraq
Ron
Jacobs
What Bush Really Said
Diane
Christian
The Real Passion
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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May
7, 2004
"Any Forces
That Seek to Impose Their Will on Other Nations Will Surely Fail"
The 50th Anniversary
of Dien Bien Phu
By AHMAD FARUQUI
On May 7, people from the world over
will gather at Dien Bien Phu to commemorate one of the most important
battles of the twentieth century. On that date in 1954, the People's
Army of Vietnam (Vietminh) inflicted a decisive military defeat
on the French army.
The battlefield is located
in a river valley 500 km northwest of the capital, Hanoi, near
the border with Laos and China. The history of struggle is ingrained
in Vietnamese character. And, for more than a thousand years,
Hanoi symbolized their resistance to Chinese domination. Then,
in 1873, a French expeditionary force sacked Hanoi's citadel,
and expropriated Hanoi into the seat of France's Indochina Empire.
In 1953, as the colonial era
drew to a close, the French began to negotiate the terms of their
withdrawal with the Vietnamese at Geneva. To strengthen their
bargaining position, the French sought to defeat the Vietminh
on the battlefield.
By March of the following year,
French Col. Christian de Castries had gathered a force of 16,000
soldiers at Dien Bien Phu. The architect of the new strategy
was Gen. Henri Navarre, who had taken over as the commander-in-chief
of the French Expeditionary Corps in Indochina. Navarre wanted
to defend northern Vietnam and Laos, but he also hoped to draw
Giap's elusive Vietminh into a large-scale confrontation. He
believed that his paratroopers, foreign legionnaires, armored
vehicles, and fighter-bombers would destroy the communist Vietminh
once and for all. Navarre, however, had overestimated his force's
strength and underestimated the tenacity of the Vietminh.
General Vo Nguyen Giap, destined
to become America's nemesis, commanded the Vietminh forces. In
time for the 50th anniversary celebrations, Giap has released
an updated edition of his book about the battle. "We must
attack to win. Attack only when sure of victory; if not, don't
attack," Ho Chi Minh told Giap. Giap recalls that the valley
of Dien Bien Phu was fairly large but completely surrounded by
high mountains. He had carefully deployed his troops so that
the French could no longer pull out without incurring major losses.
The French garrison was cut off from all outside supplies, whether
arriving by road or air.
Contrary to the recent divergence
between France and the U.S., the two nations were close allies
in 1954 and the U.S. bore the lion's share of the cost of the
French military operation in Indochina. On April 21, it airlifted
a battalion of French paratroopers from Paris to Vietnam. Two
U.S. airmen helping in the re-supply effort were killed by anti-aircraft
fire and became the first Americans killed in combat in Vietnam.
The initial plan of the Vietnamese
was to launch a full-scale frontal assault but after studying
the fortified French position, Giap devised a new strategy. He
encircled the French base with hundreds of trenches "so
that our fighters could wage combat both day and night under
enemy bombardment."
The French Expeditionary Corps
had expected the Vietminh guerillas to engage in all-out lightning
clashes. Instead Giap preferred to destroy French pockets of
resistance one at a time, choosing the timing as well as the
location. Giap's strategy was so successful that the French supply
line to the base in Dien Bien Phu was strangled by early March.
When Giap's troops opened fire on March 13, 1954, the French
deputy commander of the base, who was responsible for artillery,
killed himself because he was powerless in stopping the heavy
Vietnamese barrage.
The French watched helplessly
as the mightiest points of the base fell in the face of assaults
by bare-footed Vietnamese shock units. "Our system of trenches
ran from the high mountains down to the plains, further sealing
the fate of the base with each passing day," writes Giap.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower turned down an eleventh-hour
appeal from the French for U.S. intervention. In place of American
ground troops, Eisenhower's hawkish Secretary of State, John
Foster Dulles, offered two atomic bombs to the French government
which the French refused politely.
The last words Col. de Castries
radioed his superior in Hanoi, General René Cogny, were
understated, "I'm blowing up the installations. The ammunition
dumps are already exploding. Au revoir." Cogny replied,
"Well, then, au revoir, mon vieux." On May 7, 1954,
the Vietminh raised the flag of victory over the bunker of the
French commander. In the 56-day siege, about 3,000 French soldiers
were killed and another 10,000 French troops taken prisoner.
The defeat led to the death
of French colonialism in Indochina and provided a tremendous
impetus to liberation movements the world over. It showed that
a small Asian country could defeat a powerful European colonial
power. Soon thereafter, the Algerian people rose in revolt against
French colonial rule and freed themselves after a protracted
struggle lasting six years. The French colonies in West Africa
became independent by 1960. The wars in Vietnam and Algeria had
exhausted the French state. It had spent over two billion francs
and committed more than 450,000 troops in Indochina for no obvious
gain.
The Americans, oblivious to
the fall of colonialism around the globe, convinced of the morality
of their capitalistic ideology and cocksure about their military
prowess, marched into Vietnam just eleven years after Dien Bien
Phu. At the height of their occupation, a half million U.S. soldiers,
marines, sailors and airmen were stationed in Vietnam. When they
left in 1975, they had won all their battles and lost the war.
In other words, there was no Dien Bien Phu for the Americans.
However, according to General
Giap, the seeds of the American defeat were sown in Dien Bien
Phu. It allowed Northern Vietnam to serve "as a firm and
decisive guerilla base for southern Vietnam in its resistance
war against the American aggressors, thereafter liberating the
whole country."
The Vietnamese call their war
against the French the first resistance and the war against the
Americans the second resistance. In their long history, both
wars represent but a moment in time. This moment in time, pregnant
with military lessons, should give pause to generals everywhere
who think they can subjugate weaker nations at the point of a
gun.
Speaking on April 30, 2004,
at the 29th anniversary of the fall of Saigon (now called Ho
Chi Minh City), a frail but defiant 93-year old General Giap
said, "Any forces that seek to impose their will on other
nations will surely fail." While diplomatic niceties did
not allow him to comment directly on the U.S. occupation of Iraq,
the old warrior's reference to the new predicament of his former
foes was unmistakable.
Ahmad Faruqui is an economist who writes frequently
on Asian security issues. This article was originally published
in Daily Times, Lahore, Pakistan. He can be reached at: faruqui@pacbell.net
Weekend
Edition Features for April 24 / 25, 2004
William
A. Cook
Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Kerry
and Bush Melt into One
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Stryking Out: a General, GM and the Army's Latest Tank
Brandy
Baker
A Revitalized Women's Movement? Let's Hope So
Robert
Fisk
A Warning to Those Who Dare Criticize Israel in the Land of Free
Speech
Ben
Tripp
October Surmise: a Case of Worst Scenarios
Nelson
Valdés
"Submit or Die": Iraq and the American Borg
Lucson
Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Return to the Future
Kurt
Nimmo
The CIA Killed Pat Tillman
Mark
Scaramella
Does Anybody Know Anything?
Patrick
Cockburn
The Return of Saddam's Generals
Gary
Engler
Welcome to La Paz: a Vacation in Tear Gas
Col.
Dan Smith
Whistling in the Dark: Israel, Palestine and Bush
Greg
Weiher
Iraq is Utterly Unlike Vietnam...
Elaine
Cassel
Life on the Outside: a Review
Vanessa
Jones
Letter from Australia: Why an Independent Won Sydney
Jim
French
Agriculture's Bullied Market
Hammond
Guthrie
Al Aronowitz, Bob Dylan and The Beatles
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Holt, Albert, LaMorticella
|