Dusting off the myths on Vietnam........

Don't get me wrong: Stone is a talented director, and seems like a well-read/interesting guy......but as usual, he can't help but to twist the facts towards his argument. Episode 5 was no exception (focusing on the 1950's).

In particular the part about Vietnam (i.e. the origins of the divided version) struck me as pretty one-sided. He starts out with the usual bit about the 1954 Geneva accords.....but the fact is South Vietnam didn't ratify that agreement. South Vietnam became formally independent from France on July 21, 1954. By the time of the Geneva conference, South Vietnam had been recognized by more than 30 countries and the United Nations. Thus, South Vietnam took part in the Geneva negotiations as a Sovereign state, not as a French colony. The South Vietnamese government used its sovereign authority to denounce French negotiations at Geneva purporting to bind South Vietnam. The reason the South did not want elections over all of Vietnam is simple: the communist monopoly of power in the North. The state department noted that the communist state’s monopolization of power made “impossible any free and meaningful expression of popular will.” By virtue of the fact the North had more people; they likely could have stolen the election.

And here we are nearly 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War and the communists still maintain a monopoly on power there. So I think it’s pretty unlikely there would have been a fair election in 1954.

In regards to those elections he brings up the oft mentioned Eisenhower quote about Ho winning such an election. But he takes him out of context. Here is the full quote: [from his (1963) book 'Mandate for Change']

“...had elections been held as of the time of fighting [in 1954], possibly 80% of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader rather than Chief of State Bao Dai.” (Stone left out the part about Bao Dai.) In other words Ho would have beaten (in Ike’s opinion) an unpopular ex-emperor who was a French puppet. (And it should be noted that in 1955 Diem defeated Bao Dai by more than 80% of the vote. It should also be noted that other observers, like Senator Mike Mansfield (who later became a strong critic of the war), predicted that Diem would have beaten Ho.)

It is impossible to know how the elections would have turned out.....but we do know this, when people had a chance to vote with their feet, the South won pretty easily: Under international auspices in 1954-1955, TEN TIMES as many Vietnamese, almost a million, moved South from the North as migrated in the opposite direction. In the years following the communist victory in 1975, 1.5 million Vietnamese Nationals fled their homeland.

He goes on to even worse: he takes the time to point out what a repressive guy Diem was......fair enough, no argument there.....but couldn't you say the exact same things about Ho? Stone sure doesn't but I would: the fact is, Ho jailed, exiled, or killed almost all of his political opponents. (Becoming a one-party state takes work.) And even after his death (following the North's victory): the communists stayed pretty busy in this regard with millions being either imprisoned in "re-education" camps or executed. (I haven't seen the episode that covers the end of the Vietnam War to find out if all that is our fault too. )


But probably the most unusual aspect of this (to me at least) is the notion that this is somehow the "untold" history of these events. I don't think so: I've heard this version from every Abbie Hoffman wanna be I can think of from the 1960's to present day. (Including all the myths about the missed opportunities with Ho, him (disingenuously) quoting the [American] founding fathers, the (laughable) notion that Ho's communism was a superficial veneer, etc., etc..) It's fairly old hat.

I've always given credit to Stone as a director & screenwriter.....but as a historian: he needs some work.










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