The Hindu : International : Legendary General opens new battlefront

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Sunday, May 01, 2005

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International

Legendary General opens new battlefront

Poverty is the next foe to be vanquished Poverty is the next foe to be vanquished

HANOI: He is thin and frail, his steps shaky and his hair tufts of white. But the legendary Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap remains sharp and poised, and his eyes still flicker when he talks of old battles.

Gen. Giap led Vietnam to victory over the French and then the Americans. But today he is fighting a different foe: poverty.

At 93, he says he wants to elevate his country from one that's still developing to one that can compete internationally.

"Vietnam is heroic, but remains a poor country," Gen. Giap said in an interview on Friday at his French colonial-style home in Hanoi.

He spoke on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City

"Now we have to launch another April 30 fighting poverty and backwardness to make Vietnam stronger and more prosperous," he said.

Gen. Giap was the military brains behind the guerrilla war. He was known for taking risks few would have tried, often sacrificing large numbers of troops for strategic gain.

End of a brutal era

On April 30, 1975, northern forces rolled into the former U.S.-backed capital of South Vietnam, crashing tanks through the gates of the Presidential Palace and broadcasting the surrender of President Duong, Van Minh Minh, over national radio. That day marked the end of a long, brutal era of war that included France's surrender in 1954, which ended 100 years of colonial rule.

"No other wars for national liberation were as fierce or caused as many losses as this war," Gen. Giap said. Known as the "Red Napoleon," Gen. Giap surrounded the French at Dien Bien Phu by ordering his soldiers to drag heavy artillery across rugged mountains.

He caught the Americans by surprise in 1968 by directing attacks in southern-controlled cities, including former Saigon, in what is known as the Tet Offensive.

Today, he still wears his military uniform and continues to welcome world leaders who visit Vietnam. — AP

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