The Paris Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam signed between the Vietnamese and US sides in Paris was much mentioned in memoirs of high-ranking US officers who directly participated in the war. The event also attracted a good deal of time and energy from international scholars studying the war in Vietnam.

While a large number of famous observers, prestigious newspapers, media and publishers and people objectively considered the Paris Peace Agreement the USA’s failure in Vietnam, the US Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Pentagon tried to plead for and avoid acknowledging the failure. Despite any defence, the US could not have cheated international opinion and denied the truth. In fact, unclassified documents at the US Archives Centre disclosed the truth.

On March 2nd, 1973, the four parties participating in the Paris Peace Talks and representatives from the former Soviet Union, China, the UK, France, Poland, Canada, Hungary and Indonesia, as well as the then UN Secretary General were summoned to a conference in Paris. At the conference, all participating parties passed an International Act, recognizing the legality of the Paris Peace Accords and confirmed that the Paris Peace Accords were a great contribution to peace, national self-determination, independence and improving relations between countries. The conference also announced that the Paris Peace Accords and Protocols should be honoured and strictly implemented.

After the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, local and international newspapers and mass media continuously reported on the Paris Peace Talks and the Paris Peace Accords. The French Communist Party appeared many times on local TV to advocate Vietnam and applaud Vietnam’s victory. The editorial on the first page of French daily Fête de l'Humanité issued on February 5th, 1973 praised the just war carried out by the Vietnamese people and disclosed US attempts to prevent the signing of the agreement. French President G. Pompidou sent a greeting message to Vietnam, in which he underlined that the Paris Peace Accords means the ending of mounting pain, damages and fatalities.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee Breinev confirmed that the Paris Peace Accords served as an important victory in the struggle against imperialism; forceful evidence showing that in the contemporary era, no force could break off the will of a nation that struggled for their undeniable rights and was supported by the world’s progressive forces.

In Moscow, Soviet writer Gamzatov expressed his strong feelings in a poem: “Upon hearing that good news, I want to hug and kiss all Vietnamese. They are great people. They not only struggle for their Fatherland’s freedom and independence but also defend the truth and the beauty of our planet.”

Newspapers in the West also reported on the Vietnamese victory. The British daily Worker wrote that the Vietnamese people were champions as their cause was just, their war was put under the proper political leadership and they had bravery, knowledge and determination to gain victory.

The Canadian Communist Party announced that after conducting a long-time and brutal war against the Vietnamese, US imperialists had to end their invasion and accepted to withdraw all US troops from Vietnam and sign the Paris Peace Accords; this was the victory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Government of South Vietnam.

Workers World Newspaper, belonging to the Spanish Communist Party, which often praised the great resistance war of the Vietnamese and Vietnamese heroism in the war, sent a message to the Vietnamese via an article in the daily after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. It said: “We were so happy when we heard report of your victory. Not only the Spanish people but all working people around the world would like to extol your victory.”

In the USA, reflecting the psychology of the Americans when US President Nixon announced the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27th, 1973, senior CIA agent William Colby said that Americans felt relief and for them the Vietnam issue sank into oblivion. Before the signing day, the American Communist Party stated that the failure of the long-time and cruel war waged by US imperialists firstly resulted from the inevitable outcome of the struggle for freedom and independence of the Vietnamese people, supported by peace-loving people around the world.

Translated by Hoang Linh

Source: qdnd.vn