LETTER: What would Vo Nguyen Giap have thought of war in Ukraine?
Many have compared Giap to such military greats as Grant, Lee, Rommel and Patton
Besides my father, only two people have shaped my outlook on life: US president Abraham Lincoln and Vietnamese military strategist Gen Vo Nguyen Giap. Everyone knows about Lincoln, but few have heard of the genius of Giap, whose partnership with Ho Chi Minh led to the defeat of France and the mighty US.
Many have compared Giap to such military greats as Grant, Lee, Rommel and Patton. I sometimes wonder what he would think of the tragic events in Ukraine. He passed away in 2013, and in one of his last interviews, with the author Stanley Karnow, he said: “We were waging a people's war; a la maniere vietnamienne. America's sophisticated arms, electronic devices and all the rest were to no avail in the end. In war there are two factors - human beings and weapons . Ultimately, though, human beings are the decisive factor. Human beings. Human beings.”
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane
Via email
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