On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 17:23:24 -0600, Ed Rasimus
wrote:

Encroaching senility. Meant Thieu. His representative was Le Duc Tho.

Omigod....stop me before I kill again. Tho was the NVN delegate. I'm
becoming a blithering idiot. (Stop right now, all of you with the
confirmation postings....I don't need the reinforcement.)

But, here's a googled up quote on the participants:

Peace talks between representatives from United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the NLF began in Paris in January, 1969. Le Duc Tho served as special adviser to the North Vietnamese delegation. He eventually became North Vietnamese leader in these talks.


The real stumbling block at the outset was the legitimacy of the NLF
to participate in the talks. With the initial meetings coming shortly
after Tet '68, it seems in retrospect that the NLF was a reasonable
player for the discussions.

The errors of diplomacy, understanding of the Vietnamese culture, the
relationship with the PRC and USSR, the low probability of the nuclear
escalation, etc. etc. all seem so clear in the light of forty years of
settling since the end of hostilities.

But, while our mistakes can be analyzed, it still remains difficult to
envision what the world would look like with regard to communism had
we not "contained" and demonstrated a resolve to resist
expansionism--as flawed as we now seem to view the policy.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8