Giap les attendait

Le héros vietnamien de Dien Bien-phu et de la guerre américaine du Viet-nâm, le général Vo Nguyen Giap, a 95 ans et garde bon pied bon œil. Il a reçu les auteurs Virginia Morris et Clive Hills, qui vont publier (en septembre), A History of the Ho Chi Minh Trail — The Road to Freedom. Morris et Hills venaient lui présenter un des premiers exemplaires du livre, pour lequel une rencontre précédente avait eu lieu.

Dans The Guardian d’aujourd’hui, Morris rapporte quelques confidences du vieux Giap, notamment son affirmation de l’anticipation qu’il eut de la venue des Américains, et des précautions qu’il prit dans ce sens.

« Anticipating a fight against the Americans as early as 1959, Gen Giap had realised the importance of a secure supply line. “My army had gained a lot of experience in fighting, particularly from the battle of Dien Bien Phu. It was also from this battle that I knew the army was important, but our logistics were also a key factor among many,” he told us.

» “At the beginning, we thought that the Americans, with their strategy of ‘active flexible response’, would escalate the war and that the American soldiers would come here. We therefore had to look long-term.

» “I knew if we were to win in the south of Vietnam, where there was already a guerrilla war, we would have to expand our front lines and fight larger battles. Therefore, in May 1959, I directed the opening of the Ho Chi Minh trail.” »

Mis en ligne le 25 août 2006 à 16H46