Ignus Fatuus - Vietnam & Israel
The Struggles of War which have not been Learned From History
Quote credit: George Santayana
This series of blogs will be a part of a series detailing the similarities and differences in the war between Israel and Hamas and the Vietnam War. These blogs will aim to gain knowledge of history. What lessons can we learn, from an unpopular war that spanned over 20 years to the new global war in the Middle East.
Reference:
Zionist, Zionism: A cultural movement to establish a home for the Jewish people.
The first blog in this series will go over the start of both of these wars and the deep rooted history of conflict within both areas. The Middle East had sporadic war since 1948. Starting with the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The mass migration of Jews into the British controlled Palestinian region started to take a toll and effect on the individuals living there. This ignited the day after November 30th 1947, where the United Nations set a plan to divide the area into two states with a controlling body over a middle ground. This middle ground would be in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Zionist forces overran the Palastinians as they conquered and took lands the new state looked to be a part of. Expulsion of Palestinians had begun during the Civil War and was taking place during the Arab-Israeli War. Many war crimes and executions took place during this time. Now called the “Nakba” in Arabic, these executions cost the lives of hundreds of civilians. Similarly Jewish civilians were also killed in war crimes. Most notably, nurses, physicians, and medical students were killed when their aid truck going to the village of Sheikh Jarrah hit a landmine. Once struck with the mine, machine gun fire opened up as Palestinian militia charged towards the vehicle. Eighty-five of the one hundred and five individuals were killed in the attack. Israel continued to push further and further, eventually capturing West Jerusalem, an area that was deemed to be shared by both sides according to the U.N. As more and more Jews were dispelled from other Arab countries the population of Israel grew. The state of Israel signed their Declaration of Independence on May the 14th 1948.
Photo of British Command and Arab leaders during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Photo credit: Associated Press Photos
Vietnam had a similar beginning. Once a peaceful region was conquered by the French. This invasion sparked a bloody and cruel colonial rule of the area that we now know today as Vietnam. The conquest of Indochina began when the French raided and took control of the ancient port of Đà Nẵng in 1858. The French did not stop with present day Vietnam, their conquest in the 1850’s took over fifty years to gain control of other countries that include Laos and Cambodia. The governor of these lands lived in a “French Estate”, that resided in Hanoi. The imperialism culture started taking over immediately. Forming a government as it tried to wash away Vietnamese culture. Setting up French style buildings, restaurants, and towns all over. Building infrastructure that resembles the French style all around their home country. Similarly to the Palestinians they did not take well to the new civilization that was being set up in the region. The French ruled with an iron fist. Anyone who supported the new nationalism movement that started rising in popularity in the 1920’s could have the chance of being exiled, imprisoned, and killed. National leaders of this movement tried diplomatic efforts to return the colonized nation to the people themselves. In 1919 after the end of World War 1, the allies met in Paris to rebuild the world. Headed by the United States President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson openly gave his opinion on colonial matters. Wilson believed that colonized people deserved the opportunity to have “equal weight” in decision making in their home country. Knowing this, a young leader named Nguyễn Sinh Cung, later known as Hồ Chí Minh waited outside of the Hôtel de Crillon. Giving a letter that he and other Vietnamese Nationalists had written, to Wilson’s Secretary. There is no proof that this letter ever made it to President Wilson. He later left Paris and was exiled from Vietnam. He continued to travel the world and work for an independent Vietnam. While in Paris Minh joined the Communist Party after reading the vigorous anti-colonial writings of Lenin. Hồ Chí Minh, himself was invited to study in the Soviet Union. Once leaving Moscow as a trained member of the party, he left for China. To organize and unite Vietnamese Communist under his rule. Getting them ready to go back to their homeland.
A French settler and his Vietnamese wife and servants.
Photo Credit: Alpha History
French rule was interrupted when Japan swept across Asia capturing Vietnam. This rule was allowed under collaboration with French and Japanese forces. While both forces were occupying and establishing their rule over the Vietnamese people Hồ Chí Minh slipped back into the country in 1941. There he established the Vietnam Independence League (The Viet Minh). Through this league, at the end of WW2 Minh gathered help from The United States. The U.S. were looking for a partner to destabilize Japan’s control in the region. Hồ Chí Minh was eager to strike a deal for supplies and officer training. On September 2nd 1945, the same day that Japan surrendered to allied forces, Hồ Chí Minh gathered in the town square of Hanoi to deliver an address to the new Independant Vietnam. Ironically enough Minh had a O.S.S. (Officer of Strategic Services) standing right behind him while making the speech, and began the speech with the words of Thomas Jefferson in our Constitution. However this gathering did not hold for very long. A short brief small scale civil war began. As France sought to regain its French colonial hold over Vietnam. Massacres and atrocities occurred daily, while Vietnam and the Vietnamese civilians were tormented. To finally drive the French out of the country as both countries went to Geneva to secure peace talks, both generals vied to gain land and the upper hand for the diplomats. At the newly made Điện Biên Phủ fort, over 11,000 French soldiers looked to ambush the Viet Minh. To their dismay Vo Nguyen Giap led their army atop the hills surrounding the fort on the high ground. What ensued was a long and brutal siege that ended up costing the lives of more than 8,000 French soldiers. This fifty-five day siege ended on May 7th 1952, when the French forces surrendered. This later stage of French colonial rule marked the start of America’s involvement against the communists and North Vietnam. This new era of a “Cold War” had begun under new leadership in Harry Truman. They had given the French military aid and supplies, only for them to fail. With the peace talks concluding after two long months of negotiations. Vietnam was now split into two countries, with a demilitarized zone splitting them on the 17th parallel. Geneva planned on a general election occurring in two years after troops were removed from both sides. The United States helped prop up a new temporary President of the South. Ngo Dinh Diem, a ruthless man who ruled more like a dictator. The election that took place in South Vietnam, garnered Diem 98.2% of the vote. Hardly a free and fair election. The true election to reunify the country never came. Fixated with not letting another country fall to communism, the United States were glued to Ngo Dinh Diem. The new President Dwight D. Eisenhower began funneling money, people, and initiatives into South Vietnam. This started America’s involvement in the war. Which started later that year in 1955. The Vietnam War did not end until 1975. Over twenty years, in a country halfway across the world 58,220 Americans died, while millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians also lost their lives.
Larry Wayne Chaffin: 173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion & Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan the Chief of National Police, executes suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem on a public road in Saigon
Photo credit: Horst Faas, Associated Press & Eddie Adams, Associated Press
What can we learn from this comparative and selective history?
Something important to note about both of these wars and the start of these wars is the idea of a “war of attrition”. A war of attrition, is a war in which victory is defined by the number of combatants that you kill and how much you can wear the enemy down. These wars do not fare well in the eyes of history. These wars can be seen as unjust wars in today’s society. The soldiers themselves are not at fault. In Vietnam men and women went as an ode to their country. They believed that it was their turn to fight for freedom. However, as we will discuss further, the government did not always tell the truth to young Americans. Similarly when Israel and Hamas are at war, the media and governments focus on body counts. We are now in a world where we have moved past the Cold War, and now is the time for the fight against global terrorism. Terrorism vs Communism. Two different, but major focuses of the past and present administrations. Terrorism needs to be destroyed and rid of in the world. The question is how do we do that, and how do we support those countries, while at the same time not having the world hate us. The main idea is that countries are now pinned against each other again, those who believe in terrorism and those who do not support it. This idea stems from Vietnam. While Cold War tensions were at an all time high, we were fighting a proxy war. This proxy war turned into a full blown war. As Americans, we must be careful in how far we go. Eliminating terrorism is and will always be the number one goal, but we must not allow for mass amounts of civilians in the crossfire. Both instances of war had civil wars before it, allowing animosity to grow between the civilians that lived there. This animosity leads to a divided country or region. If there is anything that we learned from history it is that, hindsight and history is 2020. We believe that we are doing the right thing. America is the gold standard of the world. But, we must win the hearts and mind of the people living within the country. We must win the hearts and minds of the people all around. This includes our own country. In both wars there has been mass protests across college campuses. Those feelings against war, has not changed. The only things that have changed, were the war and the government themselves. To end global war, we must stop terrorism, while changing the hearts and minds of those living under terroristic control.
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