2020年9月23日 星期三

為什麼美國輸了越戰 Why Did America Lose the Vietnam War?

Why Did America Lose the Vietnam War?  美國輸了越戰的原因 

以下是一個美國人的越戰記載﹕ 越戰時期﹐我認識一個在首都西貢當警察營長的越南人。他當警察之前是收讀法律的。西貢警務部的範疇包括情報工作﹐因此他經常被派到遼國和柬埔寨邊界﹐與那裡的美國情報局人員CIA接觸。

越南淪陷的前夕﹐他正在西貢警察總部工作。警察總部是與美國大使館相連接的﹐而他的辦公室窗口下面就是大使館的內園。跟他在一起還有兩名下屬。他們可以見到直升機不斷從大使館屋頂起降。他們知道時間無多了﹐北越軍已打入西貢﹐要盡快跑到大使館去。但這位營長的妻子和幼子居住市郊。在最後的一刻﹐他決定放棄逃亡﹐寧可回到妻兒身邊。他與他的兩名部下道別﹐看著他們爬過窗口﹐他就獨自留下來。 

他被北越軍俘虜﹐在勞改營度過了12年。勞改營初期有2,000俘虜。他是最後被釋放的兩個之一。他獲得美國政府接收﹐去了美國。他在美國開了幾間餐館。他的兒子已在美國大學畢業。 我有一次問他為什麼我們輸了越戰。由於他是當事人﹐我認為他應該是最有資格答這個問題。他說﹕“因為你們派了兵到越南﹐你們就輸了這場仗﹐你們在越南失去了民心。”  

(*)  我認為以上的解釋只是部份正確。美國不應該派大軍到南越直接作戰。美國應該讓南越人自己打這場仗。為了直接駕入﹐美國要把大量美國年輕人送上戰場﹐在國內製造了強烈的反戰情緒。因此﹐這場仗註定了不可能持久。以美國這樣的民主政制﹐要在海外打仗﹐就一定要速戰速決﹐否則不能向國民徵兵。所以﹐如果美國放手給南越人﹐自己則只提供戰略支援和技術訓練﹐南越人有能力打勝的。 事實上﹐這場仗不止令美國疲倦﹐北越也是筋疲力竭﹐否則為何北越願意與美國談和﹖在美國的調停下﹐南北越雙方終於籤註了停戰書﹐雙方承諾樽守停火條件。但在這時候﹐美國爆發了水門事件﹐逼使共和黨的尼克遜總統下台﹐由民主黨接管。北越政權選擇在這個時候大舉向南越進軍﹐明顯違反雙方籤註的停戰協議﹐而美國政府卻就手旁觀﹐拒絕向南越提供物質補給﹐違背了向南越政府許下的承諾﹐出賣了南越人民。 美國輸了越戰的原因﹐就是它既然沒有作戰的持久決心﹐就應該有自知之明﹐放手給南越人民﹐但就要支持他們作戰到底。 美國應該模仿蘇聯和中共。他們不斷向北越提供物資﹐但就避免大量派兵直接駕入戰鬥。蘇聯和中共﹐這兩個無需顧及民意的暴政況且如此﹐以民意至上的美國反而魯莽輕視民意﹐把千萬的美國青年送上戰場﹖ 希望今天的美國已經吸取了越戰的教訓﹐不會再犯同樣的錯﹐若要打仗就要速戰速決。 

 Vietnam: A Television History Part 1 Roots Of A War 1945-1953 (Unedited VHS version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgohcX-Ip7E&feature=youtu.be  

Comment : I know a man who was a captain in the Saigon police. He was a law student in South Vietnam and entered the police force. Saigon police were the intelligence service for the South Vietnamese government and he worked near the Laos and Cambodian borders. He met each day with a CIA officer for his briefing. At the end of the war he was in his office in police headquarters in Saigon. Police HQ abutted the US Embassy and his office window opened onto the embassy grounds. He was with his two Lieutenants and it was time for them to go through the window to get on a helicopter and leave for the US. But the captain’s wife and infant son were in Can Tho. He had not been able to bring them to Saigon. At the last minute he decided he could not leave them and told his two lieutenants to go through the window. He stayed. He was arrested by the North Vietnamese and spent the next 12 years in a re-education camp. The camp had roughly 2,000 prisoners at the beginning. He was one of the last two prisoners released. He eventually got a visa and came to the US. He now owns several restaurants and his son went to college here. I asked him once why we lost the war. I figured if anyone would know, he would. He saw the war from the top down, from the inside as a Vietnamese, and from its beginning to its aftermath. He said, “You lost the war because you sent in your troops. When you sent in your troops, you lost the hearts and minds.” Most true assessment of the war I ever heard.