Thorough, thoughtful history of America's road to Vietnam, by
Arnold (Bantam History of the Vietnam War--not reviewed).
Beginning with Ho Chi Minh, then a 36-year-old seaman being
inspired during WW II by FDR's antiimperialist rhetoric, Arnold
traces the American mistakes--starting with FDR's failure to
brief Truman fully on foreign policy--that eventually led Ho
into bloody conflict with the US. According to Arnold, Ho's
political innocence, magnetic leadership, and desire for an
alliance with America were delineated by OSS reports, as was his
determination: ``If you do not help us achieve our goal [ending
French rule], I know a country that will be only too glad to.''
Arnold pinpoints de Gaulle's artful invocation of the Communist
threat as the key to the US/French alliance in Indochina and
explains how America failed to grasp the meaning of the French
defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. He confirms that ``the U.S.
government indeed had a large investment of money and prestige
riding on the battle's outcome...