No simple task for U.S. to end war, Vietnamese general says
HANOI - How the United States will end its war with Afghanistan is not a simple question
because the complexity of the war is unpredictable, a prominent Vietnamese general was Tuesday reported
saying.
''If the U.S. massively sends infantry into Afghanistan, how will it withdraw the troops? Will it be bogged in a
holy war of hatred and very bad terrain in the country that was even unbearable for the former Soviet Union's
army?'' Gen. Van Tien Dung said in a Monday interview with the Thanh Nien daily published in its Tuesday
edition.
''Let's wait and see,'' he said.
Dung was chief of the General Staff of communist-ruled North Vietnam and the commander of the military
campaign that toppled the U.S.-backed Saigon regime in South Vietnam in 1975. After the victory, he was
promoted to Defense Minister of the unified Vietnam, succeeding the legendary Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap.
''A point to think about is whether the strategic purpose of the U.S. and its alliances is to capture (Saudi
dissident) Osama bin Laden and overthrow (Taliban leader) Mohammad Omar, or to use this event to
establish a foothold in Central Asian countries?'' Dung added.
The general ruled out the possibility of dominating bin Laden and the Taliban leadership with military power
from the U.S. and its allies, arguing ''wars cannot extinguish hatred...it is like adding oil to fire, it will make
hatred more profound and retaliation more severe.''
Dung said the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington last month posed a ''hard problem'' for the
White House to decide whether to launch a retaliatory war or not.
''I support antiterrorist acts, but not in every form, especially in the form of wars, because the sufferers will
mainly be innocent civilians,'' the general said, adding that terrorist acts are ''crimes'' that should be erased
from the world.
Kyodo News - October 9, 2001.
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