Brother enemy : the war after the war

498 Pages·1986·164.98 MB·English

by  Nayan Chanda

"Required reading for anyone interested in international affairs."
-Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History
THE WAR AFTER THE WAR
A HISTORY OF
INDOCHINA
SINCE THE FALL
OF SAIGON
EXTRAORDINARY ACCLAIM FOR
NAYAN CHANDA'S
Brother Enemy
"A lucid and admirably balanced account, measured and persuasive in its
judgments and providing a wealth of new information that is certain to be
indispensable for anyone writing on these events in the future. Brother
Enemy offers a mass of fascinating and illuminating detail. "
-Arnold R. Isaacs, Washington Post Book World
"Brother Enemy joins books by Robert Shaplen and Stanley Karnow in
opening our eyes to the local horrors and international scope of this war,
and in so doing shows us what fatal inconvenience it can be to live within
showing distance of a superpower. "
-James Cornelius, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A compelling account of the third Indochina war, Brother Enemy is
indispensable for anyone seeking to understand the roots of the regional
conflict between China and Vietnam and the sources of the continuing war
between the Vietnamese and Cambodian communists." -FOreign Affairs
"Brother Enemy brings a deep, historical perspective to the understand
ing of events that led to the fall of Saigon as well as the tragic aftermath of
massive human disruption, displacement and death .... For those who
once had an interest in Vietnam and the rest of Indochina and then let it
slip into some Orwellian memory hole, Brother Enemy should be
required reading." -Thomas R. DeGregori, Houston Chronicle
"We know that victorious revolutions are arrogant and expansionist, and
that great powers merely worsen matters by jamming local complexities
into a communist vs. anti-communist mold. This supremely important
book helps us recognize what this has meant for Indochina, and how to
move toward a wiser future. "
-Leonard Bushkoff, Christian Science Monitor
"Brother Enemy is a clearly written history and analysis of the tangled
internecine fighting that has engulfed Indochina since 1975. Most
important is what it says to those who still may believe the assumptions
underlying America's involvement in Vietnam."
-Carl Hoffman, The Baltirrwre Sun
"Brother Enemy is the most definitive analysis we are likely to see for a
long time to come." -David Elliott, InOOchina Issues
"Brother Enemy contains the fullest account yet of the Vietnamese
Cambodian upheavals and the geopolitical implications of the Chinese,
Russian and American involvement in that part of the world."
-Marc Leepson, The ~teran
"By far the best account of the Third Indochina War yet to have appeared.
Deeply perceptive and remarkably comprehensive, Brother Enemy is
rich in highly significant new data. Nayan Chanda writes with verve and
lucidity." -George McT. Kahin, Professor of International Studies,
Cornell University, and author, Interoention
"Brother Enemy is class-act journalism-vivid, realistic, and invaluable
to anyone wishing to understand events in Indochina and U.S.-Indo
chinese relations since 1975."
-Donald K. Emmerson, Director, Center for Southeast
Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin
"Brother Enemy [is] an accomplished account of the road to war. . . .
Chanda has embellished his distinguished reputation as the best-informed
observer of Indochina since the fall of Saigon. "
-Michael Leifer, Far Eastern Ecorwmic Review
BROTHER
The
ENEMY a~~~
the
War
NAYAN
CHANDA
COLLIER BOOKS
MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
Copyright © 1986 by Nayan Chanda
Reprinted by arrangement with Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or b)' any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the Publisher.
Collier Books
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chanda, Nayan.
Brother enemy: the war after the war / Nayan Chanda. - 1st
Collier Books ed.
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-02-049361-4
1. Indochina-History-1945- I. Title. II. Title: War after the
war.
[DS550.C48 1988]
959'.053-dcJ9 87-31770
CIP
Macmillan books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales
promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
Special Sales Director
Macmillan Publishing Company
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New York, N.Y. 10022
First Collier Books Edition 1988
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
To my father, who inspired it all,
and to Geetanjali, who made it happen.

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
CAST OF CHARACTERS xiii
INTRODUCTION: THE EXIT
Old Enemies, New War 9
Prince Norodom Sihanouk: The Victory 38
2 Silkworms and Mice 46
3 The Peking Debut 74
Prince Norodom Sihanouk: The Retreat 103
4 A Glimpse into the History 108
5 Window to the West 136
6 East Wind Prevails 169
7 Calm Before the Storm 192
Prince Norodom Sihanouk: The Cage 226
8 The Road to War 231
9 Yankee Come Home! 263
Prince Norodom Sihanouk: The Survivor 297
lOA Red Christmas 313
II Indochina: War Forever? 363
vii
Contents
EPILOGUE 407
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 411
NOTES 415
INDEX 459
Maps appear on pages xii, 50, 55 and 337.
Photographs appear on pages 161-168 and 305-312.
viii
Acknowledgments
E. H. CARR described the commonsense definition of history as a
body of ascertained facts. According to this view "the facts are avail
able to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish
on the fishmonger's slab. The historian collects them, takes them
home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him."
Carr rightly challenged this definition by raising the fundamental
question, What is a historical fact? What passes as a fact of history
is in fact made into such by a historian's conscious decision. How
ever, for a historian attempting to write a history of the Third In
dochina War the problem is more basic than that of exercising
subjective judgment in choosing facts from a plethora of events. There
simply may not be enough relevant information to choose from. Other
than relating self-serVing selections of confidential documents, the
Communist governments of China, Vietnam and Cambodia are un
likely to open their archives to independent historians.
I undertook to write this very preliminary, and of necessity, in
complete account with a full awareness of my limitations. But while
I am too close to the events to attempt a historian's objectivity in
seeking facts I enjoy a certain advantage over future historians. In
ix