----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2000 12:39 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] Vietnam General Giap Says U.S. Must Help Rebuild Country STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG Vietnamese general says Washington must help rebuild country By PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (April 8, 2000 6:37 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - The Vietnamese general who orchestrated military victories over the French and Americans said Saturday that Washington has an obligation to help Vietnam rebuild and must take the initiative in further normalizing relations. In a rare meeting with a large group of foreign journalists, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap reminisced about battlefield successes and called on the United States to help rebuild his country. "We can put the past behind, but we cannot completely forget it," said Giap, 88. "As we help in finding missing U.S. soldiers, the United States should also help Vietnam overcome the extremely enormous consequences of the war." Vietnam and the United States re-established relations five years ago. The United States has avoided the issue of war reparations, although negotiations are under way on sharing research into the effects of Agent Orange and other toxic defoliants that U.S. planes sprayed to strip away cover for communist forces. Giap's views on Vietnam's victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam have been highly sought by foreign media as the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict looms on April 30. He is showing some signs of age - a facial twitch here and there, and a need for thick glasses occasionally to check his notes - but it is clear that the revolutionary fires still burn bright. "In a little over decade I will be 100, but my communist spirit still remains that of a youth," he claimed with a grin. A relaxed Giap talked animatedly for more than two hours at the ornate Government Guesthouse, responding to questions submitted in advance. Photographers clustered at his feet, and he later posed for a group picture with the media. He alternately seemed proud and modest about his accomplishments, and wore a plain military uniform with no medals - just the four general's stars on each shoulder - explaining that he wasn't going to a big event, just meeting with reporters. Giap said defeat would have been certain if his forces had tried to go toe-to-toe with an enemy with far superior resources, particularly the B-52 bombers that were so devastating until they began to be shot down. "We had to use the small against the big, backward weapons to defeat modern weapons," Giap said. "In a war, people and weapons were all-important. At the end, it was the human factor that determined the victory." Giap said he has had many proud moments in his long career, but none bigger than when word came by radio on April 30, 1975, that communist tanks had crashed the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital. "The meeting room of the Supreme Command roared" he recalled, his eyes bright. "It's hard to describe how happy we were. Many of us, including me, had tears in our eyes. It was a total and complete victory by Vietnam against the Western imperialists." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement: Workstation with Monitor under $800! So, you just heard that you need to add how many new workstations by the end of next week? Check out the bundle below. It includes everything you need to get everyone up and running quickly. http://www.listbot.com/links/cdw5
