Ne'er a Giap in his knowledge

This week, one of the twentieth century's greatest military masterminds died at the impressive age of 102.  Vo Nguyen Giap beat drove the French out of Indochina, ditching his Chinese advisers and their frontal assaults in preference to his own instincts at Dien Bien Phu (though he still developed a reputation as an 'expensive general').  The Viet Minh triumph was short-lived as the Americans persuaded the South Vietnamese to not recognise the national elections exalting Ho Chi Minh, thereby dividing the country for 20 years.  As North Vietnamese defence minister in 1968, he opposed internally the Tet Offensive and, militarily, he was correct as unable to melt back into the jungle, the communist forces were exposed to American firepower.  With many thousands of irreplaceable cadres killed, the Viet Cong was never an existential threat to the government of Saigon.  But the sight of the storming of the American embassy and the startled reports from journalists (such as Walter Cronkite) who had been told that the USA was winning the war, turned the American public against it decisively, leading to the US standing off in 1975 when North Vietnam launched a conventional invasion.  Giap's opposition may have led to him being side-lined  and, allegedly, Hanoi does not know how to properly announce the death of Vietnam's - and the world's - most exceptional commanders, such was the disfavour, if not disgrace, he had fallen.  It wasn't quite Hannibal being hounded to suicide in the Crimea by vengeful Romans, but Giap's national status may have been threatening to the Party.
He lived to see not just the end of the Cold War, but also the warming of relations with the USA to the point of de facto alliance.  This warming with the West allowed him to be interviewed for the BBC History programme People's Century.  A lightweight series and even more so as a book, I still remember Giap in his late eighties, a crumpled man in an army uniform but with a pleasant yet knowing smile and displaying the charisma that must have inspired his troops to give their all for him.