Shouldn't America have supported Ho Chi Minh? As opposed to waging an unwinnable war that cost lives & money?
Remember, one of Ho Chi Minh's heroes was George Washington. In 1945, after the eviction of the Japanese, the Vietnamese proclaimed their own independence, and quoted America's Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom. This was prior to the establishment of China's Communist government in 1949.
Ho Chi Minh sent letters to Harry Truman, appealing for the United States assistance in establishing an independent Democratic nation. Ho Chi Minh thought the US would be against colonialism since America's history was rooted in fighting to free itself from British colonialism. Instead, his calls were ignored and the US decided to help France re-establish its control over Vietnam & Indochina as a whole.
Vietnamese people resisted, culminating in France's defeat in 1954. Ho Chi Minh's political opponents fled to the south, and the US helped create the state of South Vietnam - and supported horrible South Vietnamese dictators over Ho Chi Minh, who was well-liked.
Because of being rejected by the US, Ho Chi Minh sought the aid of Communist China, and furthermore the USSR.
Which then led to the inevitable war between the US & South Vietnam vs. North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front.
America should have supported Ho Chi Minh to create a Democratic, free and could have averted a costly war in both lives & money, and America's prestige throughout the world. And no anti-war civil unrest inside the US would have taken place.
For the record, Vietnam today is an increasingly capitalist society with a stronger friendship with America than with China.
Clatty Mary2011-01-17T08:29:01Z
Favorite Answer
Do you think it "cost" the Banks or the Arms industry money? They "make" money,..even when our troops are being SLAUGHTERED.
Of course not.
Now we can begin to understand why the Bankers and Corporations "buy" politicians.
No, Ho Chi Minh was already involved with the communist movement in France around 1920's (look up French Communist Party), this was before Truman was president. He petitioned that Vietnam should be freed from the French, so he requested the U.S for support, they ignored him, possibly because of his involvement with communism.
There was a power struggle in Vietnam. Most were against the French regime, so a lot of nationalism and political movements occurred, communism was one of them, and Ho Chi Minh was in charged of that movement, the Viet Minh.
When he founded the Viet Minh, he killed many rival factions in Vietnam like Constitutional Party, the head of the Party for Independence, and Trotskyists, the rival anti-Stalinist communists. He also imprisoned thousands of non-communist nationalist.
Overall, Ho Chi Minh was power-thirst, just like Mao, Stalin, Kim Il Sung, and other communist leaders, killing people who opposes him. So a democracy wouldn't be possible anyway.
In my opinion, the reason why he asked for US support because of U.S presence in Vietnam during WWII, when Japan took over Vietnam. The US helped Ho Chi Minh to get rid of the Japanese, so Ho Chi Minh probably figured, "if they helped us once, they can help us again." That's my theory.
The Viet Mihn was a Communist front group pretending to be nationalist but had the intention of imposing a Soviet style Communist government in SEA (all of SEA from Vietnam to Indonesia) from day one. After they took over North Vietnam in 1954 they murdered something in excess of 75,000 people to ensure there would be no opposition to their control. In comparison the "corrupt" Diem regime in South Vietnam was a pussy-cat playing nice. But the biased media concentrated on Diem and never thought it appropriate to even mention the blood-bath going on in North Vietnam. In the end the Vietnamese Communists (and Uncle Ho) were monsters in the same category as Pol Pot, Mao, and Stalin. Five million of Southeast Asians were murdered AFTER the United States withdrew its support for the anti-Communist forces trying to build REAL democracies. Millions more were imprisoned and/or had to flee for their lives.
I think it is even more puzzling than you state. Not just Truman, I believe Ho contacted FIVE American presidents, starting with Wilson. He wanted a Jeffersonian democracy, and to those who say we shouldn't have supported a communist, try to learn the difference b/n cause and effect. He wasn't a communist until we rejected him.
And when he was our ally against Japan during WWII, his OSS contact, Maj. Patty, reported that Ho was a NATIONALIST, NOT a Communist.
edit: Oh, I love all the answers about how we wouldn't support a dictator (sarcasm alert). Ever hear of Pinochet, Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussein, and the dozens of other strong-men we did support?
Every point you state is valid. Whatever the "thinking" was back then, the U.S. could easily have avoided this nightmare and in fact, brought GREATER peace to the country, than backing at that time one of the MOST corrupt governments in the world. And correct again, we are closer now with Vietnam than we are with most of Southeast Asia. Imagine if instead of Chiang Kai-Sheck in Taiwan, we had supported Mao before he threw his country into disaster and death. The U.S also snubbed and taunted him, which to this day, is NOT forgotten.