All language subtitles for VIETNAM - Ten Thousand Day War - 11 - Documentary (1980)

America's Foreign Wars end in military

Victory there are unconditional peace

treaties and

celebrations but Vietnam is

[Music]

[Applause]

different negotiations for a peace

settlement go on longer than World War

II

December

1972 the first sustained bombing of

Hanoi it is designed to bring North

Vietnam to the peace

table the so-called Christmas bombing

brings widespread

condemnation a treaty soon follows and

for America the war is

over but in Vietnam the fighting goes on

[Music]

for

[Music]

the US tries for 8 years to bomb North

Vietnam to the peace table standby to

release ready ready

[Music]

now and as the talks drag out the

bombing

escalates the calculated use of this

negotiating Weapon by President Nixon

and Henry Kissinger is described by

Nixon a John erckman bear in mind that

Henry and Nixon played good guy bad guy

in these

negotiations just like a couple of

cops um Henry would go to the

negotiations and say and I have this

from Nixon I know I know this it was

their strategy he would say to the to

the North Vietnamese look I represent

this crazy fellow Nixon over there

there's no telling what he might do uh I

am a very reasonable man I am a man of

peace I oppose these bombings and so on

but there's no telling what Nixon might

do so you'd better make your deal with

me because I'm going to be easier to get

along with than he is and then if he got

to a sticking point he would he would

report back and they would unleash the

bombers or some kind of an offensive or

something so that Henry could go back

and say see see what happens when you

don't make your deal with me then he he

back there in the White House does

something

crazy December

1972 peace talks have broken down

President Nixon delivers an

ultimatum Hanoi must resume negotiations

or the capital will be

bombed Hanoi ignores the

warning December 18th day one of the

bombing of Hanoi the US deploys 121

giant b52s from bases 5,000 m

[Applause]

away communist defenses swing into

place

60

The B-52s Converge on Hanoi and Hong at

40,000 ft each plane drops 108 heavy

bombs standby

release on the first day The B-52s Dro

almost 12,000

bombs the US says the targets are

strictly

military anoi has 600 Soviet designed

twin 37 mm anti-aircraft guns they are

only effective against the support

planes but there's a sophisticated

missile defense system from 200 mobile

sites Soviet supplied surface to air

missiles search out the

B-52s the Sam 2 missiles reach 60,000

ft three B-52s are brought down on day

one

a senior Hanoi official haran

La we had a slogan fight and

build fight and produce at the same

time in the large Urban centers which

could become targets for the

bombings the children the old people

those who couldn't participate in the

fighting were evacuated the

country the schools the factories were

also moved to the country in order for

the people to continue their studies and

production and even the city markets

were moved but everyday life always

continued day two the tension in Hanoi

builds more Sam missiles are rushed to

the city

North Vietnamese Gunners study the B-52

flight pattern they find it being

repeated The Defenders believe they have

found a tactical weakness radar systems

missile positions and timing are

rechecked the Battle of Hanoi is to be

the politically decisive battle both

sides confidently expected to get peace

terms domestically acceptable to

demonstrate the military stalemate both

sides must give and take terrible

punishment but that has been the pattern

for 20 years the Victor over the French

General [ __ ] now personally directs

hanoi's defense and this battle is as

desperate as the history that' led to

it in 1954 in the war against the French

the Vietnamese Communists establish a

tough fight talk strategy

they win the decisive battle of D NBN Fu

the day before peace talks open the 1954

Geneva agreement partitions Vietnam but

the north sets out to defeat the South

by the same means talk then fight until

the other side

tires the US commits half a million

combat troops to defend the

Sou and it gradually escalates bombing

of the

north the US strategy is also to bargain

from strength President Johnson expects

the bombing to force Hanoi to terms

within 6 months hoim men's government

believes time is on its side it had

fought the French for 9 years by the

time the US enters the conflict anoi has

been on a war footing for 20 years anoi

states its minimum position total

American withdrawal and reunification of

Vietnam both sides believe they can

impose a military solution anoi sends

enough men South to match the American

troop

buildup as the Communists increase the

infiltration the US systematically bombs

the

north the Communist 1968 Ted offensive

ends 3 years of stalemate the

simultaneous attack on South Vietnam

cities undermines American confidence

President Johnson freezes us troop

levels and suspends bombing of the

north both sides agree to commence

negotiations in

Paris Richard Nixon is elected president

his secretary of defense Melvin L but

the day I entered the Pentagon I stated

I'd be there for one day longer than

four years and no more and that my

objectives were to withdraw American

forces from Vietnam in an honorable

fashion because I did not support the

large ground involvement of American

forces in Southeast

Asia Nixon believes greater pressure

will get better turns but he makes a new

effort in Paris sending former Saigon

Ambassador Henry cavat

Lodge the talks quickly

[Music]

stall did not agree

with our proposals that we

start talking

about restoration of the status of the

demilitarized zone or withdrawal of

troops or exchange of

prisoners I'm sorry to have to say this

it's too bad in 1969 National Security

adviser Henry Kissinger and poit Bureau

member Le duck toe be and meeting

secretly and Nixon orders secret bombing

of commulist Supply bases in Cambodia he

is developing his own talk fight

strategy Nixon keeps his pledge to

withdraw troops in July 69 25,000 leave

Vietnam Nixon's policy is to pressure

Hanoi while slowly handing back the war

to the South

Vietnamese North Vietnam's prime

minister fam bandong

President Nixon's way of withdrawing US

troops covers dark Maneuvers to cling to

South Vietnam and to perpetuate the

division of our country but those are

desperate efforts which are doomed to

Total

defeat but Hanoi continues the secret

talks in Paris Kissinger Aid Winston

Lord in fact the secret negotiations

were meaningful we were making specific

proposals they were responding

we would usually go on a Saturday

morning just be three or four of us

along with

Kissinger get on the plane fly across

the Atlantic all day Saturday land in

central France get out and transfer to

another small French jet arranged by

President pompo's office and fly from

there to the outskirts of Paris we get a

night's sleep we negotiate with the

Vietnamese on a Sunday and then with a

change of time we could fly back late

Sunday afternoon still get home Sunday

night

go in the office the next morning as if

nothing had

happened Kissinger operates in total

secrecy for 2 and a half

years in May 71 Kissinger drops the

demand for the withdrawal of North

Vietnamese troops from the south it is

the most significant concession of the

war but Hanoi does not

respond it demands the removal of South

Vietnam's president

T Kissinger does not informed you of

this Saigon's ambassador to Washington

WM we knew very little about the secret

talks in Paris I don't know to what

extent my president Mr TI by

then knew about the all the substance of

the secret

talks but um as Ambassador in the United

States I knew vaguely that there are

talks going on but I didn't know about

the substance of it

president H criticizes the secret

diplomacy what the American has done

wrong in Vietnam from the beginning is

they have done the war themselves on

behalf of Vietnamese people and after

that they have a take on hand themselves

the peace

negotiation Kissinger's priorities are

in Moscow and

ping Vietnam becomes part of an overall

settlement with the major communist

powers jist Ted Suz if a settlement were

to be reached it had to be worked out in

the context of a larger communist entity

or entities so you had there American

foreign policy working on several tracks

for a number of reasons in which

essentially Nixon and Kissinger

perceived Vietnam as Kissinger said

himself at one point as a

sideshow my son's been a prisoner for

three and a half years I want him

home the US public sees only a

continuing war protest

mounts you more than any other people in

this country of a living testimony to

the fact that the American people do not

wish to provide the Manpower for this

ugly War this illegal immoral War which

has destroyed our own country even as we

destroy innocent victims abroad thec in

the US encourages Hanoi to hold out for

concessions Kissinger's military aid

General Alexander heg these anguishing

days uh the complex forces that were at

work especially the declining support

base at home certainly didn't give Dr

Kissinger the kind of leeway that uh an

absence of those pressures would have

provided so he was working against a

series of converging deadlines

Congressional legisl infation which

would have forced the withdrawal of the

American activity in Southeast Asia a in

transigence uh on the part of the North

Vietnamese negotiators who were armed

with strong support from the Soviet

Union at the time and uh also the

consequences of their own failures in a

military sense in South Vietnam and they

were rather

evident January

1972 the South's Army is collapsing us

troop strength is only

130,000 Chief of Staff General West

Morland warns of wor to come it would

seem that the enemy is preparing himself

for a major

offensive uh this is well known to

you indications are that this offensive

will take place in the northern

region and in the the Hollands area in

fact I believe uh the objective is a

political

objective peace talks reconvene in Paris

but again break down the North

Vietnamese and US delegates blame each

other well that was quite a

session not exactly the kind of uh quote

serious negotiation unquote that they

told us they wanted us to come back for

spring

1972 North Vietnam launches a major

offensive in a bid to gain

concessions Nixon responds with heavier

air stri against the

north but by now Soviet Aid gives Hanoi

more time than Nixon

has in late 72 Kissinger pressures the

Soviets to support meaningful

negotiations Kissinger assistant Winston

Lord uh in September when we had met a

few weeks before the Vietnamese had

begun to move instead of going flatly

for a coalition government the overthrow

a two they're beginning to play with a

language not in a way that was anywhere

near

satisfactory but we had a sense they

might be willing to be reasonable at

last the Americans made a very major

concession

71 on no longer demanding North

Vietnamese military withdrawal from the

south as a condition for peace um a year

and a half later the North Vietnamese

made their great concession the heart of

which was in effect that they would let

to remain in saon as

president uh in the framework of a peace

treaty that was the key breakthrough

because it was on that date through

their plan that they for the first time

after agonizing years of negotiations

separated out a political settlement

from a military settlement and made a

piece that we considered honorable

possible he knew that the North

Vietnamese had made a major step forward

but he wasn't sure that we had all the

Vietnamese parties lined up yet uh so

that was sort of the only restrain note

some people feeling that the North

Vietnamese had not gone as far as

kissing and I thought they had but

basically it was a sense of tremendous

achievement in a breakthrough we got to

work immediately overnight uh writing a

counter draft we negotiated for several

more days to make it a better document

there is one major snag Kissinger has

yet to tell two of his peace

plan October 72 Kissinger meets T the US

and North Vietnam have agreed on a

settlement Nixon stands for reelection

in 3 weeks he has promised peace but two

now B I have to

fight for for the the the

the the fate of my country and the

American would like to impose

me to my

people something they cannot accept so

we have to discuss even with the very

hard discussion you know I have to to to

to act as a patriot as a Vietnamese and

as a president who is responsible for

the Faith of Our Country it's our normal

reaction so it was a very painful time

we presented it to him he listened and

passively and we took encouragement

because he didn't immediately denounce

it thought about it overnight asked some

questions which we thought were

encouraging but then came back and

blasted the agreement what I did not

agree Al all consist on two point two

very crucial Point first

us

first the in the draa of the peace

agreement that Mr

kissen have uh written together and

agreed with North

Vietnamese the North Vietnamese troops

has been allowed to stay forever in

South Vietnam and no close at all in the

tra of that treaty has mention how and

when the North Vietnamese troops will

leave South Vietnam to go back to North

Vietnam having listened to th for

Endless hours in Saigon Kissinger on the

plane flying back to Washington said to

one of his associates one of his Aids on

the plane something to the fact you know

this war simply cannot go for another

four years uh we have to end it even if

it takes a very brutal this is a verbaan

word a very brutal way of doing away

with this war even though they say that

I'm unreasonable man but they recognize

I am a very Patriotic Man too they have

to recognize that and they have to

recognize that I am right as a

Vietnamese and as Vietnamese president

and the man who who fight for his

country I not a yes man I not a a puppet

I I am not agree with

everything the American would like to

impose to our

people fearing the collapse of

negotiations Kissinger announces that

peace is at

hand Nixon has only two weeks to force

T's compliance Hanoi has imposed an

October 31st deadline but technicalities

raised by Hanoi delay the signing we

Tred to be reasonable we tried to keep

the demands for change within reasonable

limits we Tred to accommodate some of

hano's changes but they began to pile up

these changes and by December it was

clear that they were playing on our

public opinion undercutting us at home

and stonewalling Us in Paris and there

was no choice but to break off the

negotiations then the president felt

that uh in order to demonstrate to Hanoi

that we couldn't be trifled with in this

way and frankly to demonstrate our

toughness to T because we knew would

have to lean very hard on to get an

agreement no matter what agreement we

came out of uh he undertook the bombing

at this point the American interest in

relation to South Vietnam is served by

an extra DeLay So we make it appear that

diplomas is breaking down that strong

measures are necessary the North

Vietnamese who maybe were themselves uh

too clever by half who had really caused

this whole problem are beginning also to

respond militarily to some extent

one thing leads to another and suddenly

the United States and the

final spasm if you will of

military activity in in China launches

the famous Christmas

bombings beginning December 18th

1972 The B-52s bomb Hanoi for the first

time for 11 days and

nights

the city is ready with emergency plans

an expert on North Vietnamese tactics

Brian

Jenkins they had the most elaborate

measures uh um to deal with the bombing

in terms of relocation of their

Industries in terms of uh uh routs of

Transportation I don't mean to say that

the bombing was not having you know was

not hurting them no no country can be

bomb bombed and and and and and take it

uh take it complacently and and say that

does not have some

effect uh but bombing was something they

had dealt with before uh that they were

prepared to deal

with in the first two days Hanoi

discovers a weakness in American tactics

day three waves of B-52s are approaching

on an unchanging flight pattern it is a

night attack the most severe test of

hano's defenses again more than 200

missiles are

launched half a million people shelter

and

wait 6 b52s are shot down in 9

hours American officials call day three

their Darkest Hour the pilots blame poor

planning and demand changes Washington

considers stopping the Hanoi raids

entirely but then decides to try new

[Music]

tactics hano's newspapers show photos of

five captured B52

Pilots adding to International criticism

of the bombing the captive pilots make

statements at a news conference the uh

my first impression on observing the uh

uh areas that been bombed was complete

shock I was uh extremely surprised at uh

the area that that we had actually hit

the fact that I could observe no

military targets anywhere in the

area bomb civilian areas of Hanoi are

shown to the captured pilots in

publicized

[Music]

tours American officials insist that

only military targets are selected they

contend that any civilian damage results

from proximity to military targets the

North Vietnamese show the pilots

hospitals schools and residential areas

destroyed by The

B-52s we

observed a row of shops and living

quarters which had been bombed and also

a hospital which had been badly damaged

and we observed a school which had been

bombed

heavily

at the end of day three Hanoi for the

first time ever gives civilian

casualties 25 killed another 325

wounded the pope and the United Nations

condemn the bombing newspaper reaction

from Japan quote nothing is more

grotesque from buenos

Ares genocide from West Germany qu a

crime against humanity

says the London Times Nixon ordered

saturation bombing this is not the

conduct of a man who wants peace very

badly says the New York Times civilized

man will be

horrified in the US Congress is

threatening to cut off all us Aid to

South

Vietnam Nixon and Kissinger exchang

messages with Hanoi but the two sides

disagree on conditions for new

talks day

four the B52 is now attack hang

Harbor Soviet and Chinese ships report

damage so do six embassies those of Cuba

Egypt India East Germany Bulgaria and

Albania hano's back my hospital is

virtually

destroyed Hospital officials claim that

25 doctors and nurses are

killed Hanoi charges is that the US is

deliberately hitting civilian

targets us officials point out that the

hospital is only 1,000 yard from the BM

military

Airfield by day four us losses total 9

B-52s and four F-111 fighter bombers 43

American Pilots are killed or

captured

asked if the bombing of Hanoi is his

country's Darkest Hour prime minister

fam van dong reflects on 27 years of

war to tell the truth I cannot answer

your question immediately it needs some

reflection

but I must say that we faced a lot of

difficult

times but however difficult they may be

we are always sure of final

Victory confident in our people's

strength and all the more determined to

strive

forward

it is in those times of difficulty that

our people showed unimagined

unparalleled

strength that's the

[Music]

truth Nixon and Kissinger now face an

all round critical situation with pilot

losses increasing and political support

disappearing hanoy still refuses to

negotiate they decide to continue the

bombing with a pause on Christmas

Day at hano's Catholic Cathedral

midnight mass is celebrated during the

brief bombing

reprieve ano streets have a false quiet

there are new Street Sid shelters ready

it seems for a long

[Music]

Siege the people are told to copy the

soldiers and dig deep to survive the

bombing defense minister [ __ ] now has

almost no Sam missiles left 400 have

been used in the first two days only 14

will be fired on the last

day because Rail lines roads and bridges

are destroyed Soviet Replacements cannot

reach Hanoi time is now against both

sides during the Christmas pause the US

readies for even bigger

raids Nixon is threatened with the

congressionally forced Hal to the

bombing he tells Hanoi the air attacks

will cease if negotiations resume by

January 3rd Hanoi wants a later

[Music]

date the United States now launches the

biggest raids of the

War December 26th day 8 of the bombing

about 4,000 tons or 12 th000 bombs are

loaded at bases in Guam and

[Music]

Thailand Hanoi is prepared says havan La

our artillery men were ready 24 hours a

day on the loading platforms of the atti

aircraft guns or on the ramps of the

Rockets 24 hours out of

24 and the American Strategic Air Attack

was of a breadth never before known in

the history of war from the 18th to the

29th of December 1972 that is to say 12

consecutive days and nights the American

imperialists dropped a 100,000 tons of

bombs on Hanoi and

Hong that's the equivalent of five

American atomic bombs dropped on

Hiroshima in

1945 the B52 Force compris is 120

bombers and 100 support planes in seven

waves roger copy at this

time Roger

now

281 21 bombers are over Hanoi and Hong

only 15 minutes this time they detect

far fewer missiles only 68 and lose only

two be

[Music]

[Music]

52s the intensity of the 15minute

bombing leaves some residential areas in

total ruin caman district is

leveled officials widely publicize

civilian C casualties claiming 200 dead

and 5,000 homeless in this one

District these are official North

Vietnamese films the US again insists it

is aiming at military targets officials

point out that civilian casualties are

very light compared to bombing raids of

World War

II the Canan incident brings angrier

tutorials in the United States New York

Times shame on Earth Los Angeles Times

beyond all

reason but in a later visit a New York

Times Reporter calls civilian damage

grossly overstated The Baltimore Sun

find civilian damage minor compared to

the military targets Premier dong on

overall civilian

casualties ber have the own land

Frankly Speaking we did not make any

statistics that is the truth because it

was very difficult to make

statistics what I can tell you is that

our human losses were not so great as in

other

Wars in comparison with other large wars

in the world our losses were relatively

light an Evidence of this is that during

30 years

of long and hard Wars in which the

quantity of bombs and shells used were

estimated to be several times larger

than that of World War

II we Vietnamese continued to live to

fight and work and our population

increased this shows that our casualties

were not

great

no amount of bombing could break Hero's

morale says analyst Brian

jins the cumulative effect of the

bombing uh could ultimately have reduced

North Vietnam

to to Ashes to

Rubble uh but even amidst that Rubble I

believe that this the North Vietnamese

still would have had the stomach to

fight day 11 ano Soviet migf Fighters

now take the brunt of the

battle ammunition is critically short a

thousand Sam missiles have been used now

very few are

inevidence okay turning

[Applause]

281 oh Roger Copa just a normal

acquisition signals uh no threats at

this

time

by now over 100,000 bombs have been

dropped on Hanoi and

Hong but 33 Airmen are dead or

missing day 12 a smoldering

silence Hanoi tells Nixon and Kissinger

that it will resume peace negotiations

in Paris within 5 days

at midnight December 29th the bombing is

C

off a kissing your Aid Winston

Lord unpleasant as it is the fact

remains within a very short period in

the middle of this bombing we got a

message from Hanoi saying they wanted to

negotiate again and when we went back

and began negotiating again in January

it was clear from the very first meeting

that they wanted an agreement they moved

very quickly and we wrapped it up very

expeditiously

and the only thing that occurred between

the December period when they were

totally

intransigent and the January period when

they were totally

forthcoming was the Christmas bombing so

one has to in the agony of uh these

years and in the agony of diplomacy and

conflict to weigh the unpleasantness of

having to resort to force against the

fact that it did in fact achieve the

Breakthrough and there's no other

explanation for Hanoi changing its

attitude and we stopped it as soon as it

was clear that they were willing to

[Music]

negotiate the bombing is North Vietnam's

last serious threat from the

US for both sides time resources and

options are all but

exhausted with this situation both sides

want an immediate

settlement the US now precies Saigon to

accept terms or face a total end to

American Aid military adviser Alexander

heg president Chu was facing two

impossible

Alternatives the one was to accept the

conditions the other was to reject them

and be faced with a cut off of American

Support he took the lesser of two evils

I have accepted

unwillingly uh because at any

time we have been put in the

Dilemma not not to accept the the the

peace

agreement to continue to

fight with what because the American Aid

the wind be cut now Hanoi Washington and

Saigon agree to terms North Vietnam will

keep its troops in the South President

Nixon announces that for America the war

is

over the following statement is being

issued at this moment in Washington and

Hanoi at 12:30 Paris time today January

23 1973 the agreement on ending the war

and restoring peace in Vietnam was

initialed by Dr Henry Kissinger on

behalf of the United States and special

adviser Lee Duo on behalf of the

Democratic Republic of

Vietnam the agreement will be formally

signed by the parties participating in

the Paris conference on Vietnam on

January 27th 1973 at the International

Conference Center in Paris the ceasefire

will take effect at 2400 Greenwich

meantime January 27

1973 Henry Kissinger and leuck toe win

the Nobel Peace Prize tow rejects

it the South Vietnamese called the

agreement a communist Victory cabinet

minister NN Tien hung all the major

point that the Communist insist on at

the beginning of the ni

administration were totally given to

them at the

end and that is not

justify for the Vietnamese as well as

the American

sacrifice of four years during the Nixon

Administration as the formal peace

documents are signed South and North

Vietnamese troops continue fighting both

sides accuse each other of expanding the

war president H claims the north does

not want peace and they realize well

that they after the signing the peace

treaty subtly with the domestic problem

in United

States they guess that United States

will not interven again will not react

again and will not be able to provide

enough military aid and economic aid for

South Vietnam so they have they will

have a free

hand to renew the

war and to to to to overrun us that's

that that the North Vietnamese has in

mind by signing the treaty to reassure

to President Nixon makes an

extraordinary promise he secretly

pledges full us retaliation if South

Vietnam's existence is

threatened he pledges solemnly that if

the North Vietnamese

violate

seriously the peace agreement United

States will react

vigorously and secondly the

Vietnamization so will go along fully

and

completely and the financial aid the

economic aid the military head will be

provideed enough on time

and as long as we need to counter the

Communist Nixon Russia's $1 billion

worth of military equipment to South

Vietnam in the weeks before the peace

signing but an angry Congress

increasingly Cuts back financial aid

while the Soviet Union continues to

support the north defense secretary

leair with the tremendous influx of

Russian

equipment uh I believe that kind of

broke the back after 19

1973 of the South Vietnamese and

destroyed their will and desire to a

great

extent take for example the uh the

voting in the Congress of July of

73 after the Paris Accords had been

arrived at when the American Congress

voted to to cease all bombing in

Southeast Asia I said at the time to

President Nixon This Is the End end of

South Vietnam we have just stripped our

sanctions from the 73 Accords that

proved to be precisely the fact it was

one of the most

tragic actions taken by the American

legislature in my living

memory North Vietnam's peace negotiators

are welcomed home as

[Music]

Victors the peace agreement is a

repetition of hano's successful strategy

19 years

earlier now 150,000 communist troops are

in place in South

Vietnam the supply routes are

open to feels his country has been

sacrificed it's much better to let the

American speak by themsel and I have a

heard that many very important who have

a great responsibility in Vietnam who

said that we have no other word than to

say betrayal betrayal in President

Nixon's defense Aid John erckman says

the Vietnam peace settlement had a wider

context but it seems to me that you can

make the case as an outsider that he won

a great prize in opening China and in in

forging some kind of an alliance with

China Visa V Russia uh that's a great

prize to have won and if the price of

that uh was a a cynical

piece uh in

Vietnam uh then historians are going to

have to weigh the the morality and the

pragmatism and and all these other

things that historians like to

weigh Nixon's secret Vietnam commitment

is never tested Watergate destroys his

presidency the the Vietnam peace treaty

exists only on paper fighting continues

even as the agreement is signed the

Watergate scandal destroys both Nixon's

presidency and any Prospect of us

intervention in

[Applause]

Vietnam as Nixon resigns August

1974 anoi is preparing its final

offensive

in 1974 peace negotiator leak to gets a

very different assignment he infiltrates

into South Vietnam to help prepare the

1975

offensive hano's planning is outlined by

one of its senior strategists havan

LA from the end of 1974 until the

beginning of

1975 the leadership of our party did a

scientific analysis of the current War

situation and reached an historic

decision our leadership decided on the

basis of the report that the strength of

our enemy and ourselves had

fundamentally changed in our

favor and on that basis our leaders saw

that the favorable strategic moment

moment had come for us to undertake the

last battle to liberate the

South they decided to mobilize all the

people and all our armed forces and in

combination with those in the popular

uprisings we then began a general

offensive and ended the

war Hanoi plans to invade in the spring

of

1975 it is confident the US will not

intervene exhausted by both the war and

the Watergate

scandal but hanoy anticipates 2 years of

bitter

fighting it will actually take only 55

days South Vietnam without US troops or

Aid will collapse it's president later

calls the peace treaty a death

warrant

n