The wisdom of General Giap

Re: Vietnam’s General Giap dies at 102, Oct. 5. General Vo Nguyen Giap will enter history as one of the most brilliant military strategists of his times — a hero who led a communist revolution and who defeated the powerful French and American armies, one after another. Many Vietnamese, especially those who fled communist Vietnam, continue to nurture feelings of resentment for him because of the deaths and destruction during those wars.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal,

Senator John Mccain commented that the late general beat the United States in war but never in battle, and that to defeat any adversary, Gen. Giap permitted immense casualties and the near total destruction of his country.

Socialist Vietnam and the United States now enjoy a warm and friendly alliance against china, giving Vietnam much-needed U.S. military protection against china’s bullying. So goes history. As Gen. Giap said himself, we can put the past behind us.

Alice Swann, Ottawa.