Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "Indochina and The Battle of Dien Bien Phu" video.

  1.  @LuvBorderCollies  On the whole, I agree, although the reality is not so clear cut. Yes, it was a blunder that led to great tragedy for both the U.S. and especially Vietnam. So here are two factors that muddy the waters, that I know of. Ho Chi Minh was educated in Paris, were he became a communist. This wasn’t a secret, even if the Viet Minh tended to downplay it—the V.M. identified as a nationalist organization, not a communist cause. It was a coalition independence movement. Second factor is the short period of British control before the French could return in force. The British were very short handed, and were also tasked with guarding Japanese POWs waiting to be repatriated to Japan. So the British armed the Japanese POWs and set them to work against their former allies, the Viet Minh. That was the betrayal that preceded the Haiphong Incident. But on the whole, we (the U.S.) fell short of our own ideals, we lost opportunities to help new allies achieve their independence, and thereby suffered and caused others to suffer.
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