Vietnam legend warns on Iraq

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HANOI, Vietnam — The frail and tiny man who defeated two superpowers returned to the spotlight to talk of triumphs past and deliver words of warning to the Americans at war in Iraq.

"Any forces that would impose their will on other nations will certainly face defeat," Vo Nguyen Giap, the legendary general whose strategies wore out the French colonial regime and then the U.S. Army, said yesterday.

Giap is 92 now, the last of Vietnam's giants from a 30-year war to shake off colonial rule and unite the country under communism. What brought him to a rare meeting with journalists was two landmark anniversaries: The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, and the defeat of French colonial forces at the epic siege of Dien Bien Phu, 50 years ago next Friday.

With critics of the Iraq war likening it to America's Vietnam experience, Giap's opinion was eagerly sought, but the man considered one of history's foremost military strategists prefaced his reply with caution, saying he didn't know the specifics of the Iraqi situation.

He offered this: "All nations fighting for their legitimate interests and sovereignty will surely win."

Giap emphasized the powers of today shouldn't underestimate weaker countries' desire for independence.

Vietnam "proves that if a nation is determined to stand up, it is very strong," he said, adding that his country led the wave of independence wars that freed the colonies of the European empires after World War II.

Giap lives a reclusive life in a gardened French colonial villa near the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, his schoolmate and later president. The white-haired soldier came to the news conference at the government guesthouse in central Hanoi wearing a white uniform with no medals attached.

Speaking Vietnamese and French, he was relaxed and animated during a two-hour session, pumping his fist, wagging his finger, cracking jokes, thanking Americans who opposed the Vietnam War, and reminiscing about his days as a fighting revolutionary.

Giap had no military background or training when Ho Chi Minh chose him to command the Viet Minh army. A history professor and one-time journalist, he had joined the struggle against French colonial rule at age 14. His wife had died in a French prison.

But his gut instincts and natural talent were proven during the pivotal battle at the border outpost of Dien Bien Phu.

Giap's Chinese advisers told him to strike hard and fast, but he opted for slow, steady ambushes and the unexpected — like having his troops drag heavy artillery, piece by piece, over steep mountain passes to surround the French.

The 56-day siege ended with the French surrender on May 7, 1954, ultimately ending France's rule in Indochina and inspiring anti-colonial fighters around the world. But peace would remain elusive.

The day after Giap's victory at Dien Bien Phu, a telegram arrived from Ho Chi Minh that said: "The victory is really great, but it's just the beginning."

Vietnam had been partitioned, and U.S. troops began arriving to defend the South Vietnamese government against communist-ruled North Vietnam. That war lasted until April 30, 1975, when Saigon, capital of South Vietnam, fell to communist forces.

As revolutionaries fighting in the jungle, Giap said he and Ho Chi Minh simply dreamed of freedom of foreign domination.

Back then, "Vietnam was an enslaved country. The only free place was in the jungles and behind our enemy's back. Modern Vietnam is much different. Vietnam today is a country of freedom, unity, independence, democracy and peace," he said.

The country is still under the one-party communist system inherited from Ho, who died in 1969, but the trappings of capitalism are everywhere.

Giap recently visited Dien Bien Phu and met a few surviving veterans of the battle.

"I am more than 90 years old. I never thought I'd have another opportunity to visit Dien Bien Phu," he said. "I had very strong emotions — memories of those who had fallen."