Ho Chi Minh Letter to Truman (1946)
Sat Feb 16, 1946
On September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh had declared Vietnam independent of French colonial rule, which led to immediate war with France. In Vietnam's Proclamation of Independence, Ho Chi Minh quoted passages from America's Declaration of Independence, pointing out that the ideals expressed in that revolution were aligned with their own desire for freedom.
On this day in 1946, Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to President Harry Truman, asking for assistance in supporting the Vietnamese independence movement. Truman did not respond, and the U.S. began meddling in Vietnamese affairs to undermine Ho Chi Minh's movement. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
"Our Vietnam people, as early as 1941, stood by the Allies' side and fought against the Japanese and their associates, the French colonialists. From 1941 to 1945 we fought bitterly, sustained by the patriotism of our fellow-countrymen and by the promises made by the Allies at [the summits in] Yalta, San Francisco and Potsdam.
...The French aggression on a peace-loving people is a direct menace to world security. It implies the complicity, or at least, the connivance of the Great Democracies. The United Nations ought to keep their words. They ought to interfere to stop this unjust war, and to show that they mean to carry out in peace-time the principles for which they fought in war-time.
...It is with this firm conviction that we request of the United States as guardians and champions of World Justice to take a decisive step in support of our independence. What we ask has been graciously granted to the Philippines. Like the Philippines our goal is full independence and full cooperation with the United States. We will do our best to make this independence and cooperation profitable to the whole world."
- Date: 1946-02-16
- Learn More: vietnamwar.lib.umb.edu.
- Tags: #Colonialism, #Independence.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
I would say most of the revolutions sparked by the U.S. have not been about freeing people.