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Q. How would you compare Van Tien Dung with Vo Nguyen Giap in terms of military talent?A.Van Tien DungMar 28th 2002 APAN AMERICAN historian, Eugene Grayson, who served in Vietnam as a colonel, reckoned that Van Tien Dung was one of the “great captains” of warfare, ranking with Wellington and Rommel. The campaign that General Dung planned and directed to give the communists a final victory after 30 years of war was, said Mr Grayson in an influential essay, “a classic masterpiece of manoeuvre warfare”. Some people were surprised by this encomium. Asked to name the communists' most famous general, many would award the laurel to Vo Nguyen Giap, who is usually credited with defeating the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, sometimes seen as the beginning of the end for western forces in Vietnam. However, General Dung was the youthful number two at Dien Bien Phu and some say was the real brains behind victory. He later succeeded General Giap as army chief.Nostalgically refighting the battles of long ago is a favourite game of historians. Who was the better general of the second world war, Britain's careful Bernard Montgomery or America's hot-tempered George Patton? Your choice may well be determined by which military historian you have been reading. Vietnam's propagandists once portrayed General Giap as a military genius. Perhaps he was, but with peace wartime heroes became less important. He was removed from the Politburo and for a few years was in charge of family planning, which caused some amusement among irreverent Vietnamese. Probably General Dung made things worse for him with his account of the war published in the party newspaper. While in no way knocking his former boss, he gave himself full credit for the final victory. General Giap, now 91, is rarely seen in public. But last week he put on his dress uniform and attended the state funeral of General Dung, to witness the departure of the man who to some extent had stolen his glory. He declined to say anything about his old colleague. That will probably have to wait for his memoirs.Life with HoRelated itemsNguyen Van Thieu Oct 4th 2001Pham Van Dong May 4th 2000The longest war Apr 27th 2000Vietnam: Uncle Ho’s legacy Jul 23rd 1998Nguyen Co Thach Apr 23rd 1998As a young man Van Tien Dung never thought of becoming a soldier. Soldiers were men of the French Foreign Legion who kept order for the colonial power. Like many other Vietnamese of peasant stock with little schooling he was recruited into the communist party run by Ho Chi Minh. Just as easily he was picked up by the French and jailed for belonging to an illegal organisation. He spent about four years in jail, often escaping, once as a Buddhist monk, and always recaptured. In 1940 the Japanese occupied Vietnam and other parts of Indochina, but allowed the French to continue their administration of the region. The United States supported Ho's anti-Japanese campaign, and sent a medical team to his jungle hideout to treat him when he was ill with malaria. After the war, Ho hoped that the French, urged on by America, would grant Vietnam independence. The French declined, and the long struggle began, first as guerrilla war and later as a series of clashes between great armies.Vietnamese General Van Tien Dung speaking at the peace talks. July 1954How did Dung acquire the training expected of a high-ranking military commander? The communists had no West Point, no Sandhurst. China and Russia were able to offer guerrilla training, but the Vietnamese were nationalists as well as communists, and jealously retained control of their forces, even if it meant promoting men from a non-proletarian background. Some 70% of General Giap's officers, including Giap himself, were from the middle class. He seems to have recognised Dung as a natural leader who had a firm command, despite his lack of formal education, of logistics, which played a key part in the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu. Like Napoleon, the two men were prepared to squander any number of lives to win. In one campaign in 1968, the so-called Tet offensive, named after a Vietnamese holiday, General Giap lost 500,000 men killed by American and South Vietnamese forces. However, even in overpopulated North Vietnam, never short of recruits, such a loss was thought unacceptable and contributed to Giap's loss of support.For the final offensive of the war General Dung had under his command an army of 800,000 men, the third largest in the world, supported by tanks and aircraft. The Americans had withdrawn from Vietnam after losing 58,000 soldiers and the South was on its own. The United States' “potential for aiding its puppets is rapidly declining”, he told an approving Politburo. Even so, General Dung noted, the southerners were hard to break. It took 55 days of hard pounding to reach Saigon on April 30th 1975.General Van Tien Dung and his family in 1968.General Dung never lost his interest in military affairs and took a spectator's view of the interminable wars that have continued around the world. After the attacks on New York and Washington of September 11th and the subsequent war in Afghanistan he gave warning that the United States would encounter the same difficulties experienced by the Soviet Union when it occupied the country, and would find it difficult to withdraw. He was aware that his view was not particularly original, nor would it be welcomed. But who would deprive an old adversary of his mischievous parting shot?General Van Tien DungThe IndependentVan Tien Dung, soldier: born Hanoi 1917; Vietnamese Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Commander 1980-87; married (two sons, three daughter); died Hanoi 17 March 2002.Van Tien Dung was one of the proudest of Vietnam's wartime generals. That is very evident from the book Dai Thang Mua Xuan (Our Great Spring Victory) which he wrote immediately after the fall of Saigon in 1975, and in which he claimed to have master-minded the campaign.This claim has been disputed in the memoirs of other generals and most notably in those of General Tran Van Tra who had commanded the southern forces in the Mekong Delta. Still, General Dung did have the distinction of being one of the first members of the Hanoi leadership to enter Saigon, and occupied centre-stage on the podium at the victory parade in the city, newly renamed Ho Chi Minh City on 15 May 1975. He had come a long way from his humble beginnings in the outskirts of Hanoi.Born in 1917, Van Tien Dung (pronounced Zoong) was proud to claim he was a true son of the people and had joined the Communist Party in its early stages during the 1930s. That led to his arrest by the French colonial authorities in 1940 when he was imprisoned in the notorious Son La detention centre to the north-west of Hanoi. There he met many more senior members of the Communist leadership, a factor which stood him in good stead for the rest of career, but not immediately.Having managed to escape from Son La, he had difficulty in contacting any party members who still remained at large and only managed to get in touch again in early 1945. He then attended the Northern Regional Military Conference and although there is no evidence that he had any previous military experience, he was assigned to lead the revolutionary forces in the coastal province of Ninh Binh.The victory of the Vietnamese Revolution was, however, relatively short-lived and its leaders were forced by the French in early 1947 to retreat from Hanoi to the jungles and mountains of northern Tonkin. There Dung joined the staff of the High Command under Vo Nguyen Giap before being appointed commander of the prestigious 320th Division to carry out a campaign to recapture several provinces in the southern Red River delta.It was not very successful and he returned to the northern jungle redoubt of the High Command, only to be appointed Chief of Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam, as it was now called, in 1953. This came as a surprise to some, as he had leapfrogged other more experienced officers. Dung was to remain in this essentially staff position for the next 20 or more years, so gaining little combat experience. He could not even claim to have participated in the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu, which put an end to the French phase of the war.During the late 1950s and 1960s Dung, having acquired the rank of General, made numerous visits to China and the Soviet Union partly to attend training courses but later, as American involvement in Vietnam escalated, to request military assistance from fraternal allies. It was a role he apparently enjoyed because it also enabled him to take holidays abroad. In fact in 1974 when planning for the crucial offensive the following year began, Dung, now a Senior General and member of the Party Politburo on a par with General Vo Nguyen Giap, was away somewhere in Eastern Europe for a couple of months.The planning process was long and complex because although the Americans had withdrawn from Vietnam, they had left behind a large and well-armed military force in the South. There has also been much speculation about how far Dung and Giap saw eye to eye on tactics. But they too had to contend with the views of the Party General Secretary Le Duan and his close comrade Le Duc Tho who, although civilians, considered themselves to be military experts.As for those generals who had been responsible for all the fighting in the South, they at times despaired of the armchair experts in Hanoi. Eventually, it was agreed that the 1975 Spring Offensive would be launched in March in the Central Highlands and that it would be led in person by Dung, his first combat mission since 1951, and the first time he had ever been to the southern battlefield.The initial attack proved to be so successful that it caused total confusion amongst the South Vietnamese army which began collapsing in all directions. The situation changed so rapidly that it was beyond Dung's control and it was the High Command in Hanoi under Giap which commanded the final stages of the offensive leading to the capture of Saigon. That is one reason why Dung's book on the victory was considered controversial – because he gave little credit to anybody else.Still, that did not hinder his career. In early 1980, it was announced that Dung was to succeed Giap as Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Commander, although it has been suggested that this transfer of power had already taken place earlier due to some internal disputes within the leadership, possibly concerned with the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia.In any case, Dung's appointment was not altogether popular in some sections of the military, as became apparent in 1986 when he failed to win a place on the army delegation to attend the forthcoming 6th Party Congress. He and his wife were accused of malpractices including the misappropriation of "war booty" captured in the South. Hence at the Party Congress, Dung lost his seat on the Politburo and soon afterwards his position as Defence Minister.From then on wards, he lived quietly, making few public appearances except on ceremonial occasions when, donning his uniform glistening with stars and medals, he still cut an imposing figure. How he will be remembered when the full inside story of the Vietnam People's Army and its rival generals comes to be written is another matter.Judy StowePeople’s War in VietnamThe Vietnam War’s Great LieVan Tien Dung, 84, of Vietnam; Led the Final Assault on SaigonBy REUTERS MARCH 21, 2002Gen. Van Tien Dung, commander of the Communist offensive that captured Saigon to end the Vietnam War, died on Sunday. He was 84 and had a history of hypertension and heart problems.Vietnam state television, which announced the death, said General Dung would receive a state funeral in Hanoi on Thursday. It called him one of Vietnam's ''talented military commanders and strategists in one of the most glorious moments in our history -- the Great Spring Victory.''General Dung, who was appointed army commander in chief in January 1975, led the 55-day offensive that culminated in the fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, on April 30, 1975. This ''Great Spring Victory'' ended 30 years of war, which saw the defeat of the colonial French, whom General Dung had fought at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, then the United States peace pact of 1973, and finally South Vietnam's surrender.French General Marcel Lennuyeux (L) speaking to Vietnamese General Van Tien Dung (R) at the peace talks. July 1954It remains a point of dispute which general could rightly claim to be the victor of Saigon, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1975.General Dung put himself at the center of the action in his officially sanctioned memoir in 1976, but supporters of the most famous Communist general, Vo Nguyen Giap, then the defense minister, argue that it was General Giap who did most of the planning. General Dung was rumored to have been criticized by the army for taking too much credit for the final victory.In 1980 General Dung took over as defense minister. But he was dropped from the Politburo in 1986 when the ruling party adopted market reforms, and he was sharply criticized in the People's Army congress that year as autocratic. He was replaced as defense minister in 1987.General Giap, now in his 90's and still widely revered as a hero, lives in retirement in Hanoi.The state television quoted a military scientist, Lt. Gen. Hoang Minh Thao, as saying that a key reason for the victory in 1975 was control of the Central Highlands, where the final offensive began, and that this was in no small part thanks to General Dung.He dropped from the limelight after his fall from grace, but made a public appearance in March 2000 when he attended an exhibition of photographs taken by Vietnamese and Western photographers killed during the war.In October 2001, he warned the United States about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan, saying that he was certain the Americans could not defeat Osama bin Laden and that it could be difficult for Washington to extricate its troops.''Will it be bogged down in a holy war of hatred and very bad terrain in the country that was even unbearable for the former Soviet Union's army?'' he asked.General Dung said he fully supported action against terrorists, but not through war, because war kills civilians. ''War doesn't end the hate,'' he said.According to Michael Maclear in his book ''Vietnam, the Ten Thousand Day War,'' the general marveled at the resources of his enemy, including computers, when he visited South Vietnam's military headquarters after his victory.''But American computers had not won this war,'' General Dung said. ''The will of the nation had won completely.''How we won the war / by Vo Nguyen Giap & Van Tien Dung - Version detailsVan Tien Dung, 84; Led N. Vietnam in Capturing SaigonMarch 20, 2002|From Times Staff and Wire ReportsGen. Van Tien Dung, who commanded the North Vietnamese forces that captured Saigon in the final act of the Vietnam War, has died, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.Dung, 84, died Sunday at Hanoi's Central Military Hospital, said ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh. The cause of death was not disclosed.After a formal state funeral Thursday, Dung will be buried at the Mai Dich Cemetery on the outskirts of Hanoi, reserved for the highest-ranking Communist Party and government officials, Vietnam Television announced.Born in Hanoi and a member of the Communist Party by the time he was 20, Dung rose from peasant stock to become part of an elite handful of revolutionaries who masterminded Vietnam's war of independence against France.He was named Hanoi's military chief of staff in 1953 and went on to fight against American forces during the Vietnam War.Dung headed the final Communist offensive against U.S.-backed South Vietnam in the spring of 1975. The war came to an end on April 30 of that year as North Vietnamese tanks rolled through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, South Vietnam's capital.Dung's military reputation in Vietnam stands second only to battlefield legend Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, who along with Ho Chi Minh and Pham Van Dong were considered the architects of the nation's communist revolution.He wrote a surprisingly detailed and candid account of the offensive leading to Saigon's collapse that was serialized in Hanoi's leading newspapers in 1976.Experts found the memoir, called "The Great Spring Victory," straightforward and reasonably accurate.Although Dung's chronicle broke no news, it was valuable because it confirmed the U.S. government's theories about North Vietnamese strategy during the final phase of the war.He revealed that North Vietnam's leaders did not expect the final offensive to succeed as quickly as it did. He said he was incredulous when hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese troops and civilians fled from Pleiku in the Central Highlands--the beginning of the conquest of the South."Why such a retreat? And who had given the order for it?" he asked, recording his thoughts at the time.Dung's memoir also read as lively military history because of Dung's personal notes and descriptions of cloak-and-dagger maneuvers.When the wary general departed for South Vietnam in 1975, for example, he took pains to keep intelligence agents from noticing his absence. Before leaving Hanoi, he arranged for a double to ride in his Soviet Volga sedan for his regular twice-daily trips between his house and military headquarters. He also arranged for an army volleyball team to come to his house every afternoon "because I have the habit of playing volleyball after the afternoon working hours with them." The activities were reported in the Hanoi press as if he were still there.The prominent play given to his memoirs made Dung a national hero and signaled to analysts that the down-to-earth general was to be elevated to the heroic stature of his mentor, Giap.In 1973, Giap was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and by 1975 his role had become largely ceremonial. Dung, the only other four-star general in the North Vietnamese army, was credited by Western military experts with overhauling and reorganizing North Vietnam's army into a modern military force. In 1980, the year after Vietnam toppled the government of neighboring Cambodia, he replaced Giap as defense minister.In later years Dung was dogged by criticism from within the army for his autocratic style and rumors of family corruption. He was replaced in 1986 during a Cabinet shuffle.He is survived by his two sons and three daughters.General Van Tien Dung and his third child Van Tuyen MaiCeremony marks birth centennial of army’s talented commander (en.vietnamplus.vn)THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017 - 15:42:00General Van Tien Dung (front, second, right) visits the Quyet thang (Determined to win) Army corps in 1075 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A ceremony was held in Hanoi on April 27 to mark the 100th birth anniversary of General Van Tien Dung, former Defence Minister and a talented commander of the Vietnam People’s Army.The event, organised by the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence and authorities of Hanoi, saw the participation of Party General Secretary and Secretary of the Central Military Commission Nguyen Phu Trong, Standing member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Dinh The Huynh, and Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich, among others.General Van Tien Dung, alias Le Hoai, was born on May 2, 1917 in Co Nhue commune of Hanoi’s Tu Liem district (now Co Nhue 2 ward of Bac Tu Liem district).During the resistance war against the US, he directly commanded many successful campaigns such as the Road 9 – Southern Laos Campaign in 1971, the campaign to liberate the Central Highlands in 1975, and the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign that liberated Southern Vietnam and led to national reunification in April 1975.After the national reunification, he was appointed as Defence Minister, First Vice Secretary and then Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee.Dung was promoted to the rank of General in 1974. He served as a member of the Party Central Committee from the third to the sixth tenure, and as a Politburo member from the third to the fifth tenure.Addressing the ceremony, General Ngo Xuan Lich stressed that for more than 65 years of revolutionary activities, Dung was a prime example of an undaunted communist who was completely loyal to the Party and devoted himself to people. He was one of the most excellent commanders of the Vietnamese army, a strategist and a wholehearted leader greatly contributing to the struggle for national liberation, development and protection.He passed away in March 2002.Lt. Gen. Khuat Duy Tien, who used to fight under the command of General Dung, said that Dung was his teacher and a big brother and also a visionary general who developed the Party’s military guidelines and art of military leadership. He had a scientific working style while being serious in work but also modest and accessible in the daily life.-VNAVăn Tiến Dũng - WikipediaVietnamese: [van tǐən zǔŋˀ]; 2 May 1917 – 17 March 2002), born Co Nhue commune, Từ Liêm District, Hanoi, was a Vietnamese general in the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), PAVN chief of staff (1954–74); PAVN commander in chief (1974–80); member of the Central Military–Party Committee (CMPC) (1984-1986) and Socialist Republic of Vietnam defense minister (1980–86).Military careerVăn Tiến Dũng joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1936, he escaped from a French prison in 1944, and fought against the Japanese occupation force during the Second World War. August 1945, he directed the armed forces to seize power in the province of Hòa Bình, Ninh Bình and Thanh Hóa. By October 1953 during the First Indochina War, Dũng rose to become Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People's Army under General Võ Nguyên Giáp prior to the siege of Điện Biên Phủ in 1954. For the next twenty years, his military reputation in North Vietnam was second only to Giáp's.He commanded the vital Tri-Thien-Hue Front during the 1972 Easter Offensive, replacing his mentor as PAVN commander in chief in 1974, when the Vietnam War against the Americans and South Vietnamese evolved from a guerrilla struggle to more conventional forms.Dũng planned and commanded the 1975 Spring Offensive, the final PAVN offensive that defeated South Vietnamese defenses and captured Saigon in 1975. He also directed Vietnam's invasion of Khmer Rouge Cambodia and the resulting border conflict with the People's Republic of Chinain 1979. He was appointed defense minister in 1980. He retired in December 1986 at the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.Văn Tiến Dũng died on the seventeenth of March 2002 in Hanoi, at the age of 84.Sad day. Black April!Võ Nguyên Giáp - WikipediaVõ Nguyên Giáp (Vietnamese: [vɔ̌ˀ ŋʷīən zǎːp]; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general in the Vietnam People's Army and a politician. Võ Nguyên Giáp is considered one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century.He first grew to prominence during World War II, where he served as the military leader of the Viet Minhresistance against the Japanese occupation of Vietnam. Giáp was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War (1946–54) and the Vietnam War (1960–75), participating in several historically significant battles: Lạng Sơn (1950), Hòa Bình (1951–52), Điện Biên Phủ (1954), the Tết Offensive(1968), the Easter Offensive (1972), and the final Ho Chi Minh Campaign (1975).Võ Nguyên Giáp was also a journalist, an interior minister in President Hồ Chí Minh's Việt Minh government, the military commander of the Viet Minh, the commander of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), and defense minister. He also served as a member of the Politburo of the Vietnam Workers' Party, which in 1976 became the Communist Party of Vietnam.Võ Nguyên Giáp was the most prominent military commander, beside Ho Chi Minh, during the Vietnam War, and was responsible for major operations and leadership until the war ended.01 Nov 1979, Alger, Algeria --- General Giap during a military parade in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Algerian Revolution.Image at © Henri Bureau / Sygma / CorbisGeneral Vo Nguyen Giap (1911-2013): Military hero, revolutionary intellectual, environmentalistGeneral Vo Nguyen Giap, second from left, with Ho Chi Minh, in 1957.By Michael KaradjisOctober 24, 2013 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Few people from the 20th century can really claim to have changed history. One of them without a doubt was General Vo Nguyen Giap, who led the Vietnamese people to defeat the French and US empires.Giap died on October 4, aged 102.While mainly remembered as a military leader, Giap was also one of Vietnam’s most significant political leaders, a revolutionary intellectual, an environmentalist and a campaigner for progressive change within his own country.General and Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap and head of General Department of Politics of Vietnam People's Army Nguyen Chi Thanh in 1951According to Vietnamese law, state funerals are only given to former heads of state or government. Giap never attained any of these titles. Defence minister for long periods, deputy prime minister was highest official post he rose to. Heads of the armed forces don’t get them.Yet there was never a chance the ruling Communist Party wouldn’t break the rules for Giap, regarded to be a national treasure. The very suggestion of it over the last few years provoked outrage. The mass outpouring for his funeral demonstrated the enormous esteem in which he was held.Born Vo Giap in the north-central province of Quang Binh in 1911, the surname Vo in Vietnamese refers, coincidentally, to a fighter, a warrior. It was a most appropriate name for someone who would go on to defeat the most powerful imperial states on Earth. But one of Giap’s nicknames was Brother Van – where “Van” means literature. “Vo” and “Van” represented the two sides of the character of this very widely read, intellectual military officer.Just one example of how these two aspects of his character were combined was his skill with languages. When he was building the people’s army in the 1940s in remote mountain regions, he learnt four languages of ethnic minority peoples who would be fighters in that army. He even wrote poems in one of them.Giap came from a nationalist family. His maternal grandfather had joined the Can Vuong Resistance against the French, and his father had also joined uprisings against the French in the 1880s. His father was arrested in 1919, when Giap was eight, and died in prison. One of his older sisters was arrested soon after, and died soon after being released due to prison conditions. These two events, in addition to the later arrest of his first wife and fellow revolutionary, Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, in the 1940s, who also died in prison, left indelible marks of justified hatred for the colonial oppressor on the young Giap. His first daughter, Hong Anh, told Cecil B. Currey, Giap’s biographer, that “he carries in his soul wounds that even time cannot heal”.Giap was already an organiser of a student movement at his high school, Quoc Hoc High in Hue, for which he was expelled and returned to his village. There he joined the Tan Viet party, which introduced him to communist ideas – in 1926 reading Ho Chi Minh’s Colonialism on Trial, which would change his life forever. Following further arrests and a jail sentence in 1930, Giap moved to Hanoi, where he joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi in 1931. In Hanoi, he studied law, and also worked as a high school history and French teacher.1941Giap briefly left for China in May 1940 when France outlawed the party (it was during this time his first wife was arrested and died), but on his return with Ho Chi Minh in 1941, they set up the precursor to the famous Viet Minh, first to fight the war-time occupation by Japan, in collaboration with the fascist Vichy French government, and later the French when they returned.After driving out the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2 1945. However, the revolutionaries were well aware that the French planned to return, and in the meantime a mind-boggling assortment of Chinese Kuomintang, British and retreating Japanese troops were crawling over Vietnam like vultures. Giap founded the Vietnamese People’s Army on December 2, 1944, consisting of 31 men and three women.By the time of the independence proclamation, the VPA had some 5000 troops. Some of their weapons had come from the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS, the precursor to the CIA) to help fight the Japanese, but as history showed, the Vietnamese revolutionaries’ pledge from the outset to not be used by any colonial or foreign power was meant seriously.Giap and ‘Peoples’ War’: Defeating FranceCommander-in-chief Vo Nguyen Giap of North Vietnam reviews People's Army. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBISMost obituaries have dealt heavily with Giap’s role in leading the Vietnamese people’s war against French colonialism, and particularly the smashing victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 – one of his history’s more significant battles, one that actually changed something major, as a small and poor country brought about a devastating defeat to a major imperialist power, an extraordinary encouragement to hundreds of millions of other peoples throughout the colonial world trying to throw off the colonial oppressor. It is above all due to this victory that Giap, along with Ho, acquired mythic status among the world’s peoples.“All citizens are soldiers. All villages and wards are fortresses, and our entire country is a vast battlefield on which the enemy is besieged, attacked and defeated”, Giap proclaimed. This is not the place to discuss Giap’s military strategy, which would require another article, or articles. In essence, however, Giap was one of the 20th century’s leading practitioners and theoreticians of “people’s war”, involving a vast array of tactics, ranging from the simplest guerilla operation, or even just providing water to troops, right up to main front battles and much in between, that aimed to involve ordinary people at every level in the fight to defeat the oppressor, who had overwhelming superiority in advanced weaponry.Much has been written about the final battle of Dien Bien Phu, a strategic French military post in the mountainous north-west of Vietnam, so rather than repeat, this article will quote an excellent description by Jack Smith in the October 12 Liberation News:Giap figured out what to do -- one of the most audacious maneuvers in modern military history. … Giap had artillery but he kept it a secret until the right moment. His plan required 50,000 troops, thousands of support forces, 24 howitzers, and antiaircraft guns, ammunition and supplies for an army. Each howitzer weighed between 3 and 7 tons, depending on the type Giap used.Planning for Dien Bien PhuThe problem was how to get the howitzers up the mountains without being detected despite roadless, very difficult terrain. He decided that large teams of porters would push and haul each piece up the back side of the mountains, facing away from the base. Once there, they would tunnel and drag the howitzers to the forward slopes on the other side facing the enemy down below, and position them to cause maximum damage to various parts of the sprawling base. It was an incredible accomplishment.The French -- who numbered about 13,000 -- discovered the Viet Minh had heavy weapons on March 14, 1954, when the first shot came crashing down upon them. After two weeks of this bombardment, Giap sent in the troops. It was a tough fight, including in trenches. On May 7, Giap sent 25,000 Viet Minh on a final assault on the remainder of the garrison-and it was over.General Vo Nguyen Giap gained a decisive victory at Dien Bien Phu Battle on May 13, 1954Land reform disaster and rectificationFollowing the supposedly temporary division of Vietnam into north and south at the Geneva Conference in 1954, the ruling Communist Party government in the north set about carrying through its social revolution. However, the nature and speed of the social transformation were important issues where differences naturally arose, especially in such an underdeveloped country.Meanwhile, the very division of the country also led to different views on how much stress to put on aiding the liberation movement in the south and pushing reunification, before getting too bogged down in transformation in half a country.Nevertheless, as the peasant masses had been the major base of the resistance to the French, the elementary democratic issue of carrying through the party’s land reform program was not something that could wait, and the party set to the task soon after victory. In late 1954, Ho Chi Minh announced a “land to the tiller” campaign.However, as the depth of the sheer class hatred of the poorest peasants, after centuries of oppression, was unleashed, an element of the ruling party, led by general-secretary Truong Trinh (whose name means ‘Long March’), rode this wave in an opportunist fashion. By most accounts, this “poor-peasant” ultra-radicalism occurred with the encouragement of Chinese advisors then in Vietnam, who did not fully understand the Vietnamese reality.Though the land reform began modestly as planned, by its second stage it had turned into a fiasco, with poor peasants encouraged to denounce large peasants and even middle peasants and village teachers as bourgeois class enemies, many of who were unjustly stripped of land, in conflict with explicit party guidelines. Ho Chi Minh also made clear that while the land of the landlords was to be redistributed, no retribution was to be dished out to those who had supported the anti-French struggle, and they were not to be left destitute themselves. Yet many land reform committees did just that, and that was the least of it; several thousand people lost their lives before the campaign could be brought to an end.Ho Chi Minh and General Giap continually denounced the excesses and demanded the carnage come to an end. Yet their voices had little effect on the combination of unleashed raw class hatred on the ground and the opportunism mixed with ideological obsession that was playing with this fire. Certainly, the idea of either Ho or Giap being “dictators” was shown to be demonstrably false.But then when those masses on the receiving end began to organize themselves, their voices could become effective. Aggrieved peasants began making their way to Hanoi to gather outside the party Central Committee to demand redress. These even included Vietminh cadres from the French war, who had also been targeted. There were even peasant uprisings in some provinces against the crazed “land reform” committees.Finally, the protesting peasants were all invited to a major sports ground in Hanoi and addressed by Giap, who admitted that grave errors had been made, and the campaign was brought to heel, with a rectification campaign restoring land to those who had lost it unjustly. Ho Chi Minh also chose Giap to go and campaign around the country to calm the situation. The campaign had distributed land to 10 million peasants, but the price had been heavy, and had bogged down the party at a time when the right-wing dictatorship of Diem in the south was stepping up its violent attacks on the Vietminh cadres there.By 1959, it was clear that the northern cadres had to step in and deliver military aid to the struggle in the south, especially as the US was already sending massive aid and advisors to Diem. The pressure of the south led to the party leadership choosing a leading southern cadre, Le Duan, to replace Truong Trinh, dumped due to the land reform fiasco, as party general-secretary. It is widely believed that that Giap was expected to have been given that position, and that this was the beginning of the famous rivalry between these two leaders. Whatever the case, it did become clear that the two had a number of political differences in the following years.The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam WarWar in the south: Disputes over strategyAs the Sino-Soviet split widened in the early 1960s, while concurrently, the US intervention into the war in the south grew deeper, differences emerged over these related issues.In 1963, the party decided it needed to step up support to the military struggle in the south, while at the same time, resolving to remain neutral and remain friends with both major Communist-ruled states.However, several cadres, led by Hoang Minh Chinh, adopted a pro-Soviet position. Their view was that the division of Vietnam could only be resolved by diplomatic and not military means, in line with the Kremlin’s philosophy of “peaceful coexistence.” While China had also been advising caution, the widening of the split led it to verbally play the “revolutionary” card against Moscow’s “revisionism”, so by 1963 it was supporting a greater military role for Hanoi in the south.While both Giap and Le Duan recognised the necessity of military intervention given the reality on the ground, different conceptions emerged over the nature of armed struggle and its relation to political struggle, including a semi-public debate between Giap and General Nguyen Chi Thanh, supported by Le Duan, in the party’s theoretical journals. All agreed in principle that the struggle would involve a mixture of main force battles, guerilla warfare, winning people politically, and diplomatic struggle, but the weight of each was sharply contested.While Le Duan and Nguyen Chi Thanh believed the strategy of “big battles” involving large “main force” units should take primacy, Giap stressed instead the primacy of guerilla war, in the form of “prolonged people’s war”. This latter conception meant that military struggle had to go hand in hand with gathering popular support, and was done in a way to gather further support, at no stage going beyond where the people were at.Both conceptions had the ultimate aim of taking the largely rural-based struggle to the cities via popular insurrection, but Giap’s conception once again put greater stress on coordinating with the popular masses in the cities, a precondition to moving onto this stage.To undermine his opponents, Le Duan adopted a verbally pro-Beijing position. In practice, however, this was largely just a device to use to denounce his opponents and rivals as “revisionists”, thus falsely putting Giap and his co-thinkers in the same bag as the pro-Moscow “negotiations only” wing of the party.In reality, however, Le Duan had little in common with Maoism other than “fighting revisionists.” Beijing, for its own reasons, in fact advocated a prolonged people’s war strategy, in common with Giap. However, unlike Giap, Beijing wanted it prolonged as long as possible, had no interest in moving onto the insurrection stage, still less in winning over people in the cities, and above all had adopted a verbally ultra-left position of opposing the Vietnamese entering into any negotiations with the US. Beijing’s position was thus concerned with limiting Vietnam’s options in emerging as a strong power independent of Beijing, and its agreement with Giap on people’s war was thus largely coincidental.Wilfred Burchett interviews General Giap, Hanoi, May 1966.In fact, to focus on “main force” battles, Le Duan ultimately would have a greater need for the Soviets’ more advanced weapons, and he did later turn to them; at this point, however, as the Soviets only pushed negotiations and no war, for Le Duan (and for Giap) this could only mean capitulation. Moreover, the specific “main force” battles strategy put forward by Le Duan’s camp was suggestive the Maoist “surround the cities” strategy: a rural-based army would ultimately take over cities, but little importance was given to winning the urban working classes over. Ultimately, even though Beijing opposed main force battles which Le Duan advocated, and even though Le Duan was not opposed to negotiations whereas Beijing was, the impression that both were adopting a “hard” position, even if in very different ways, was a useful ploy for fighting “revisionists”.Thus the Sino-Soviet dispute intersected with inter-Vietnamese differences in rather indirect ways. Ultimately, neither Giap nor Le Duan (nor many in the CPV) had much faith in either Moscow or Beijing, and for both the issue was always what was good, in their view, for Vietnam’s struggle, never about being someone else’s tool.Tet OffensiveMost commentary on Giap’s death claims he was the master of the famous Tet Offensive of 1968. In that offensive, North Vietnamese and southern National Liberation Front troops launched massive simultaneous surprise attacks, involving some 80,000 troops, on five cities, 36 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals and 25 airports throughout Vietnam. Some of the most spectacular attacks were on the central city of Hue and on Saigon itself.Massive US counter-attacks by air killed thousands of NLF troops, indeed it is widely regarded as an enormous military set-back and body blow to the southern guerilla forces in particular. Some units lost the overwhelming majority of their troops. However, the Tet Offensive is also regarded to be the turning point in the war due to the political impact it had on the home front in the US, where it helped provoke widespread opposition and helped fuel a feeling of vulnerability in the US and its armed forces.While this political impact is undeniable – and the CPV’s strategy was always political as well as military – Western propaganda has demonised Giap as a “ruthless” military chief who was unmoved by how many of his troops were slaughtered “just to achieve his political ends”. Bart Jones, writing in the October 4 Washington Post, asserted that “In three decades of combat, he is said to have had more than a million of his soldiers killed.”Of course, the self-serving hypocritical nature of such talk, from those supporting the side that was doing this ruthless slaughtering of millions of Vietnamese, via the most massive carpet bombing in history which dwarfed the entire tonnage of bombs dropped in all theatres of World War II, including history’s longest ever chemical war with Agent Orange, in a country far away from American shores that they had no business being in, is so stunning that it requires no analysis but only contempt from intelligent people.Beyond that, however, recent research suggests the charge against Giap in relation to Tet is in fact unwarranted. While defence minister, Giap had only one vote within a special 5-member Politburo “war sub-committee” consisting of himself, Le Duan, Le Duc Tho, Nguyen Chi Thanh and Pham Hung.Based on “a number of Vietnamese histories, documents, and sources have become available” in recent years, author Merle Pribbenow shows that as Tet 1968 approached, Giap and many leaders, including Ho Chi Minh, had great reservations about the idea of the offensive, as they believed the conditions were not ready for popular uprisings in the cities (Pribbenow, Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 2008, vol. 3, issue 2, pp. 1–33, for this and the paragraphs below regarding Tet).As background, in June 1966, the Politburo war subcommittee met with the Central Military Party Committee and outlined a plan to win a decisive victory. It consisted of “main force” units attacking the enemy on four main battlefields, to be combined with attacks and insurrections in three main cities.While Giáp agreed with fighting “big battles” as one part of an overall strategy, he stressed that “the attacks on the cities should start with small military attacks and only gradually build up to the ‘insurrection’ stage in certain specific areas and cities, once communist military forces had attained local superiority in those areas”.In January 1967, the Central Committee approved Resolution 13, which called for “an all-out effort ... to win a decisive victory in a relatively short period of time”, by inflicting heavy casualties on US forces, destroying a major portion of the South Vietnamese army, before inciting a “general offensive–general insurrection” in the cities – there was no consideration given to launching urban insurrections before some decisive military defeats of the enemy, understanding this would mean the revolutionary forces would be smashed by the US military.The resolution made clear that this should occur “at end of a gradual, step-by-step process: “In coordination with the political struggle, [we must] build up our strength, gradually and systematically gain control in the cities, weaken the enemy’s controls, intensify our movement in the cities, and create conditions to enable us to advance toward launching a general offensive–general insurrection.”Resolution 13 underlined that the aim of winning such decisive military victories was to force the US into negotiations – which they considered urgent given the upcoming US elections in 1968 – in a situation where the Vietnamese would thus be in a stronger negotiating position. The party thus had a political-military-diplomatic strategy.However, there was a basic problem in the plan – their military forces were not yet in a position to impose such massive defeats on the American military, in particular quickly enough to meet the timetable for an urban offensive/insurrection at Tet – Vietnamese Lunar New Year – which was to fall in late January 1968. General Van Tien Dung, recognising this problem, went behind Giap and conferred with Le Duan, who proposed the entire set of intermediate stages, including military victories, be dropped, and instead to move immediately to the final stage of general offensive/insurrection. The insurrection would coincide with main force military attacks all round the country to divert the enemy, but would not need to wait for them to cripple the enemy’s forces.Le Duan was thus proposing a radically ultraleft “insurrectionist” strategy, one that had no relation to either Moscow or Beijing views, and no relation even to the party disputes, since it called for ignoring not only popular support and guerilla struggle, but even main force military victories – but with the aim of forcing the Americans into negotiations.When the plan was put to the Politburo, there was significant opposition, including from Ho Chi Minh, who stressed, among other things, that they still needed to pay attention to fighting a protracted guerilla war, and that “we must also pay attention to the need to preserve the strength of our people. If our people and our resources become exhausted, then we will not be able to fight, no matter how many troops we have.” Due to reservations of many members, Politburo approval of the full plan was delayed until December 1967, when both Ho and Giap were out of the country for medical treatment – Ho in China and Giap in Hungary.Indeed, Giap was allegedly so opposed to the plan that he extended his stay there until just after the offensive begun, to underline his displeasure with this course. Once in operation, he returned to lead it as well as he could. General Tran Van Trà, who led the southern National Liberation Front forces, those who were decimated in the offensive, later criticised the northern leadership for not giving the NLF sufficient time to prepare for the offensive.While it is true that the political impact on the US government and anti-war movement was ultimately enormous, it is also true that Le Duan’s forcing of the “insurrection” did not lead to urban uprisings (though it was more successful in many smaller rural towns), and did lead to a US counter-attack which decimated the southern revolutionary forces. In Hue, both the excesses of the incoming revolutionary forces, and the extremely vicious US air attack, imposed no less than catastrophe on that city.It is a very difficult thing to look back and suggest how things may have turned out better if the Ho-Giap strategy had been adopted instead, and the offensive was thus delayed. But while Giap, as a loyal party member, always publicly defended the offensive for its impact politically, the facts show he cannot be blamed for a strategy that resulted in so much death.The fall of SaigonLe Duan had meanwhile been consolidating power via building a core of close supporters among certain cadres within the party bureaucracy and security apparatus, and he used the Tet events against Giap. In late 1967, even before the offensive, a number of Giap’s closest allies were arrested. After Ho Chi Minh, who was very close to Giap, died in 1969, Le Duan went on the offensive. It is well known that in 1972-73, a great many of Giap’s closest confidantes within the party and army were demoted or “retired”.However, despite being sidelined within the party apparatus, Giap continued to play the crucial role as Defense Minister in ensuring Vietnam’s victory over the US in 1975. Certainly, he was not alone – Le Duan was head of the Party Military Commission, and his ally General Van Tien Dung headed the Army General Staff. However, the book written by the latter, which became a standard party text, in which he claimed all the credit for the victory, is widely regarded to be inaccurate and wildly self-serving, omitting the role of both Giap and of the southern revolutionaries under the leadership of General Tran Van Tra.As Colonel Bui Tin, who fought with Giap in the French war and was with Giap as a journalist for the party paper, Nhan Dan, when Saigon fell, explains:Giap was always in direct command throughout the 1975 offensive and it was he who really led it to victory. They (people in the know) have even produced the daily command diary of the Operations Department of the General Staff which clearly and carefully recorded every order made by Giap right down to the very minute and second when it was issued. These records also show how rapidly and daringly he reacted to developing situations. Every moment counted and most of the orders are written in his own hand. Giap was always present at the command post in the Citadel in Hanoi to follow developments, make corrections if necessary and issue immediate orders. (Following Ho Chi Minh, 1995, p. 82).Revolutionary victories however, especially after such a horrifically destructive war which had killed millions of people, are rarely pure affairs. On the one hand comes an immense feeling of solidarity in such an achievement through such enormous collective sacrifice, and immense joy in peace after so many decades. On the other hand, the chaos of transition as a state collapses – the state of the south Vietnamese dictatorship – combined with the sense of entitlement that some may feel after so much loss and so much hell, creates openings for the twin evils of vengeance and looting, not to mention common opportunistic crime. Bui Tin reports on this moving event on May 7 1975, a few days after victory, when Giap arrived at Independence Palace in Saigon:An officer said that he had acquired a good-quality piano from a military base in the South which he would send to General Giap’s home in Hanoi. I have never seen Giap so angry. With his eyes blazing and uttering obscenities, he replied that it was impossible for him to accept such booty: what would everybody else who had participated in the campaign expect? After that I respected General Giap even more (p. 87).Giap sidelinedThe decade after 1975 was extremely hard for Vietnam. The US maintained a criminal embargo on the country, denied reconstruction aid after “bombing Vietnam back into the Stone Age” as US president Lyndon Johnston had put it, while meanwhile the Chinese regime adopted an aggressive position and encouraged the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in neighbouring Cambodia to launch murderous attacks on Vietnam’s Mekong rice bowl region. When Vietnam finally responded in 1979, entering Cambodia and helping the Cambodian people expel the Khmer Rouge, the US and China supported and armed a decade-long war by the Khmer Rouge from Thailand bases.China even briefly invaded Vietnam in early 1979, and although it was beaten back by heroic Vietnamese resistance, this caused significant destruction and deep psychological scars. The criminal US embargo was joined by the European Union, China, Australia, the southeast Asian capitalist dictatorships and countless other countries, crippling Vietnam’s ability to recover. These circumstances also tied Vietnam more closely to the Soviet leadership and its policy choices than it would have preferred.November 2, 1979: General Giap (right) with Muammar Gaddafi and Cuban Defence Minister Raul Castro chatting in Algeria during a reception marking the Algerian Independence war. Photo: Lipschitz/PA WireIn such conditions, an inappropriately rapid and radical economic policy was pushed internally under Le Duan’s leadership, while the conditions of siege facilitated the exercise of a “war communist” style of political leadership. The exodus of millions of “boat people”, from where come Australia’s large Vietnamese community today, can neither be blamed simply on the extraordinary poverty of a country destroyed by war, nor on these people, often owners of micro-businesses, being expropriated “capitalists”. Big capital fled in 1975, on planes, not rickety boats. Bad policy decisions pushed through in a rush, informed more by ideology than concrete circumstances on the ground, played a major role.It was in such circumstances that Giap, always far more a “leader of the people” than a machine man, was first removed as Secretary of the Central Military Commission in 1977, then replaced as Defence Minister by Van Tien Dung in 1980, and finally dropped from the Politburo at the 5th party congress in 1982 (but remained on the much larger Central Committee). Following the beginnings of political and economic opening (Doi Moi) after the 6th party congress in 1986, which the military were strongly supportive of and involved in, Giap got one of the deputy prime minister posts until 1991, following which he retired at 80 years of age.Giap however never lost interest in his country’s politics, or world politics, in the very broadest sense. His first portfolio after being dropped from the Politburo was science, and he was appointed chairman of the National Committee on Population and Family Planning. Some ridiculed this (and his opponents may have even intended it this way) – as poet To Huu was concurrently made deputy prime minister, people quipped “the poet does economy and the army general places IUD contraception”. Yet Giap, always anything other than a one-dimensional military man, was in fact eminently suited to taking on jobs relevant to his country’s development.Giap in later life: environment and democracy advocateOne of his close friends, world famous Vietnamese ecologist (and party member since 1954) Professor Vo Quy, explained to me that, in the 1980s, Giap had held largely the same ideas about “development” as most of his comrades, influenced by the Soviet model. That is, that a poor country needs to go rapidly for “large-scale” development in order to catch up. While no-one denied that Vietnam needed a good dose of this, as a “one size fits all” policy panacea it had enormous implications for a poor country that could ill-afford it, not to mention massive environmental consequences.One day Vo Quy gave Giap the famous book Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher. Giap, always a prolific reader, read it in one night. While he may not have accepted the book’s arguments in toto – it basically replaces a “big” development schema with a “small” one as a panacea – the effect on him was immediate, according to Vo Quy. He asked for more books on environmental issues, and since that time Giap maintained an enormous interest in these issues.This came to a head in recent years, even with Giap at a very advanced age, with the state and party leadership falling in behind a massive project to mine bauxite and smelt aluminium in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The Highlands have already been heavily deforested due to war and post-war development (much of the latter ill-conceived); large numbers of Vietnamese scientists and environmentalists held great fears for the environmental impact of this development on the region. In addition, the region is home to a large number of ethnic minorities, whose livelihoods depend on the forest. The potentially disastrous impact on them is also a major concern.According to Vo Quy, the Central Highlands is an “area of stunning beauty with rich eco-tourism potential and a highly productive agricultural zone”. The damage to the environment likely caused by bauxite -- including the production of thousands of tones of toxic “red sludge” “far outweighs any economic benefits”.In January 2009, Giap wrote the first of three open letters to the party and state leadership. He argued against the project on three grounds. The first two were that it would destroy the environment, and that it would displace the local ethnic minority people. In late April, 135 Vietnamese intellectuals and scientists signed a petition that was presented to the National Assembly, protesting this development.In fact, Giap pointed out that Vietnam had proposed a similar project in the same region to Comecon, the Soviet-led economic bloc, in the 1980s, but Comecon advised against it, warning of devastating ecological damage, not only for residents of the highlands: it warned it “would also harm the lives and environment of people in the southern plains of the central provinces”. And China itself, hoping to exploit Vietnam’s bauxite, had closed 100 bauxite mines in China in 2004-2008 precisely due to the ecological impact.While Giap the environmentalist was concerned with the ecology, Giap the old military man had a third concern. The bid for the project had been won by the China Aluminum Company (Chalco), a gigantic Chinese state-private share company, in a joint venture with Vietnam’s National Coal Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin). Giap protested that, by allowing a major Chinese company into such a strategic region, bringing in thousands of Chinese workers, the project was also a threat to national security.On May 7, on the 55th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu, he told visiting leaders that the Central Highlands “is a strategic site of the country, which is very important in defence and security, not only for Vietnam but for Indochina”.In recent years, the Chinese government has claimed the entire South China Sea (known in Vietnam as the East Sea) as its own, including all the islands within it. Vietnam and a number of other countries also have claims to these islands. As the Vietnamese government has tried to walk a difficult fine line, between continually stressing Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands, but refusing to contemplate war as a solution, a noisy opposition, originally focused on human rights but increasingly on nationalism, has demagogically accused the government of softness towards China. One may well ask, since the government has never conceded the islands to China, is the opposition demanding war?There is no evidence that Giap had any sympathy with such views. However, while his issue was always primarily environmental, it is hardly surprising that a man whose entire life had been devoted to liberating his country from powerful imperialist states would have qualms about such a large-scale interest in such a strategic region from a powerful neighbour that had invaded Vietnam in recent times and which was now treating Vietnamese interests in the East Sea with aggressive contempt, including via large-scale kidnappings of dirt-poor Vietnamese fisher-folk who try to fish in the islands.As well as the environment, Giap made his name over the last two decades as someone willing to continually speak out on the need for political reform, for the promotion of socialist democracy and more openness.Just before the Communist Party’s 10th Congress in April 2006, Giap joined several other military veterans in demanding a full-scale investigation into a massive corruption scandal that had just been unveiled, involving officials of the PMU 18 unit under the transport ministry, which was caught diverting millions of dollars targeted for infrastructure projects to gambling on premier league football matches. They demanded action “even if it led to the highest levels”.Giap also said that such scandals have “frozen the leading role of the Party and the management of the State and the supervision of the people”.Giap and socialismThe image of someone of Giap’s stature as a kind of in-house, loyal party “dissident” has tended to excite many Western journalists and analysts. When he visited several years ago, US Republican leader, and former Vietnam veteran, John McCain claimed Giap had said the Americans, while wrong, were a “worthy opponent.” If true, it probably reveals that Giap had a sense of humour; but just as likely it is the kind of fantasy that has become common.A common form of fantasy is to suggest that, as an advocate of democracy, Giap might also be pro-capitalist. While I can’t currently place them, I have seen media articles that sometimes ended with some vague assertion that Giap advocated a bigger role for small business, or some such fantasy. Under the Doi Moi economic renovation program, launched in 1986, Vietnam now has tens of thousands of private businesses (even while the larger strategic areas of the economy remain state-owned); there is no known tendency in the party known to oppose this overall course; and Giap is not known to hold any fundamentally different view on this overall strategy.Such journalists probably asked him whether it was good that there was a lot of business activity, Giap replying in the affirmative; the reporter then interpreted that through his or her own framework.The simple fact is that in all these years of speaking out on democratic, environmental and other issues, Giap has never uttered a single pro-capitalist statement, none at all. If anything, some statements can well be interpreted as frustration with the kinds of vices the market economy has brought with it.Indeed, as pro-capitalist Vietnamese politicians never stop talking about the need for endless, classless “economic growth”, often decrying that Vietnam’s world class growth over the last two decades was “slow”, Giap’s emphasis on the environment, in particular in the bauxite case, could well be interpreted as a protest against voracious capitalism and its ignoring of the human and environmental cost.When Fidel Castro visited Vietnam in 2003, the picture of Fidel and Giap sitting and chatting together under a portrait of Lenin spoke so many more words than all the blather of those opportunistically, and laughably, trying to associate one of world socialism’s living legends with the grubby world of “free market” capitalism and the soul-less commercialisaton of all human values and merciless exploitation that it offers.And when Hugo Chavez visited in 2006, Giap praised Chavez as part of a new generation of socialist fighters: “You together with President Fidel Castro have raised the flag of nationalism and socialism.” He was certainly a lot more forthright in identifying with Chavez as a socialist firebrand than most of the Vietnamese leaders at the time. The two exchanged gifts -- Chavez offered a gem-encrusted replica of a sword owned by Latin American liberation hero Simon Bolivar, while Giap gave signed copies of his books on military strategy. Giap’s sympathies seem straightforward enough.Of heroes and legendsThe thousands upon thousands of Vietnamese that have publicly paid their last respects to Giap, and the outpourings in the media and social media, indicate the kind of esteem Giap is held in. Many a time the views they expressed to the media were along the lines that, other than Ho himself, there are simply no other leaders comparable to Giap; no other CPV leaders, before or after Doi Moi, have ever come anywhere close to having such stature among Vietnamese people.Meanwhile, among the Western left and socialist movements globally, the feeling exists that “one of the greats” of 20th century revolution has died, comparable to only few.It is certainly true that not all human beings can be made of the same stuff as Giap; countless aspects of our social existence determine where we go in life. However, it is great movements of peoples for social liberation, for liberation from the chains of class society and its ruthless exploitation, that create the environment for people such as Giap to come forward and lead.In this sense, it is hardly fair to even try to compare any current Vietnamese leaders, with responsibility for the more mundane tasks of developing a poor country, to Giap. They cannot be blamed for not rising to such heights. That said, however, a situation in which the “market”, however necessary as a tool to be used in development in a country not ripe for full socialism, has come to ride roughshod over so many of the basic human values that Giap and generations of Vietnamese revolutionaries devoted, or sacrificed, their lives for, calls for new leaders with bold ideas.Not the “bold” ideas continually pushed on Vietnam by Western governments, multinational corporations, international trading bodies and lending agencies, and all manner of “consultants” and ‘experts” – that Vietnam needs even more “market”, even more orientation towards the “values” of pure profit seeking, more power to big capital.But quite the opposite: that enough is enough. New leaders are needed to push a genuinely popular democratic socialist program and free the country from the nightmare view that its only salvation from its problems is even more of the rotten system of capitalism that Giap proudly spent his life trying to end. None of this requires a return to the pre-Doi Moi straightjacket that the market fundamentalists try to scare the Vietnamese people with. The country still needs lots of market in its current stage of development, but this does not require ruthless market fundamentalism. A modern, democratic socialism that uses the market as necessary and ignores and supersedes it when it can and must, a socialism that really puts working people in control in deed, not only in word, is a worthwhile goal for Vietnam.Of course, regardless of my own views, the Vietnamese people will be the ones to decide how to get out of their current impasse. What is certain, however, is that no new heroes, no new Giaps, no new national treasures, can arise from the task of trying to push the country even further down the path of the toxic system of capitalist exploitation, greed, corruption, massive inequality and the swapping of all human values for dollar values, precisely the source of the problems Vietnam faces today.Seven Pillars of Wisdom - WikipediaSeven Pillars of Wisdom & The Evolution of a Revolt (2 Books): T. E. Lawrence: 9781543167849: Amazon.com: BooksThe Seven Pillars of Wisdom is T.H. Lawrence's -better known as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA- major work, an account of his war experiences, edited by GEORGE BERNARD SHAW. During the war, Lawrence fought alongside Arab irregular troops under the command of Emir Faisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, in extended guerrilla operations against the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Lawrence obtained assistance from the Royal Navy to turn back an Ottoman attack on Yanbu in December 1916. His major contribution to the revolt was convincing the Arab leaders (Faisal and Abdullah) to co-ordinate their actions in support of British strategy. He persuaded the Arabs not to make a frontal assault on the Ottoman stronghold in Medina but to allow the Turkish army to tie up troops in the city garrison. The Arabs were then free to direct most of their attention to the Turks' weak point, the Hejaz railway that supplied the garrison. This vastly expanded the battlefield and tied up even more Ottoman troops, who were then forced to protect the railway and repair the constant damage. Lawrence developed a close relationship with Faisal, whose Arab Northern Army was to become the main beneficiary of British aid.Seven Pillars of Wisdom free download in PDF & EPUB format

Contents: // 1. Drama disclaimers // 2.) Personality // 3.) Facts! // 4. Conclusion1.)Disclaimer: I wrote this article for fun before “her thing” happened. I DO NOT SUPPORT THAT, just saying as I’ve had many people DM or come at me.Irene promises to improve as she’s apologized 3–4 times. She messed up bad, and the damage has been done. People have the right to unstan, stop supporting, or keep stanning as it’s their decision.My personal thoughts on Irene’s situation in October are in the comment section ❗️Edit: As of January, Irene apologized 3–4 times, one in person with the editor or stylist, one on Instagram, one from SM Entertainment both here: (1) Red Velvet’s Irene Apologizes After Accusations About Her Behavior and one last apology, reflecting deeply on the whole situation on Lysn and apologizing to everyone in general recently here: (2) Red Velvet’s Irene Shares Apology In Letter To Fans. The editor/stylist has also come to terms with Irene and the editor/stylist asks we should not defame her image or spread rumors anymore.Despite your stance (stan, neutral, unstan), we should be looking for improvement, not rubbing salt in an already healing wound.However if she repeats her actions again, I might have to unstan her…2.)*HOW IS IRENE’S PERSONALITY BEHIND THE CAMERA?*Obviously, we don’t know any idol’s off-camera personality and they aren’t pure angels. Unfortunately, there are so many “eXpErts” talking trash about Irene and now talking trash on Red Velvet as a whole, even though they have barely ever looked into Red Velvet’s content for two seconds and blurting out “she always gave me those vibes, from her rbf especially.” Reveluvs may be OT5 but with a slight mixed opinion, or fully OT5 supporting, or some maybe even OT4 supporting lately, and you have the OT3’s who dont stan Wenrene.However just please respect everyone’s opinions to either still support her or to stop supporting, or to even unstan Red Velvet.Personally, I still think she has been a good leader to RV at least but that’s completely separate… keep in mind we still don’t know how every single idol acts behind the camera. Having that said, please feel free to read a thread of Irene’s personality as it appears to me and every single fact of Irene from 2014–2020 I know of as a six year reveluv.Personality in-depth (Her deeds, facts, and actions below this section):Irene is infamous for her cold beauty and her infamous, intimidating expression she naturally has called “RBF.”It’s a misconception about Irene because she is introverted and awkward in crowds, but so caring and playful when comfortable. She surprisingly can blabber and can get “chaotic” if you watch RV content.Irene tends to be sweet when she wants to, especially when with the members (especially Seulgi), her friends, or her close co-workers.She has a complicated and shy personality. She takes time to open up to, even for new Reveluvs.She has a calm, mature, and thoughtful personality and is the embodiment of the stereotypical “motherly” K-pop leader. She is also a grown adult and almost 30, which is old for K-pop. She can be seen feeding RV members by hand, loves clean laundry and ironing, weirdly nitpicking lint on their shirt or the way they smell, and takes bones off their food for them occasionally. Organizes the member’s thoughts and plans, packs their bags, keeps track of their items and passports, etc. She even accompanies them to their solo schedules sometimes out of her own time.Irene and the members said she’s the type to bottle up her emotions.Sensitive to sound and movement. Screams very loud when scared.She is very competitive and she is the game queen of RV.Irene often puts others first and she sometimes forgets to think about herself.Irene’s sense of gratitude is amazing and she loves to give gifts or letters to people since she cannot express her love in words or actions sometimes. Her numerous actions towards fans in concerts and fanmeets speak her gratitude as well.The quiet and polite member, has manners, and a stickler for using honorifics. Also keeps track of dates/times perfectly and is well organized.In her mind, she’s the only person she can trust to get things done and she doesn’t want to burden the other members. She stated she has that type of mindset and works hard.She is straightforward with her words, outspoken, and takes action when she has a good reason to, she is sometimes stern (strict/picky) as a leader.She is a neat freak and likes to keep everything 100% at its best, cleaning, picking dust out of members clothes/hair, or even smelling the other members!She rarely cries, but she always cries in private.A big mama’s girl basically.One thing I find weird is that she takes her older age into consideration a lot. She is respectful to her sunbae groups despite some of them being younger, but she tends to pull the “Hey… You know I’m older than you?” card sometimes with the younger RV members.Irene is reliable and gets things done, like when she wants to improve something or herself, she will achieve it in some time.3.)Deeds / Facts:“Her angry resting face.” A little toxic here, but if you think she looks angry, go outside more and RBF is everywhere. Her beauty is just cold and *expressions people naturally have* don’t define our whole existence… Irene takes time to understand and her face doesn’t define her.Other misunderstood beautiful idols like Krystal, Sehun, and Jennie have RBF, but if you look into them, they are actually amazing. There is no need to judge anyone.A good example is… there’s a popular anti-video recently which has Irene’s RBF while she looks at Itzy. However, if you search up online “Irene gives Itzy blankets” she actually greets them and has fun with Itzy for a bit and distributes blankets to each member of Itzy when they have skirts. This is on the same day of that video. Her RBF doesn’t mean anything, and videos like that are mostly irrelevant. Also, the K-pop shipper videos where idols make accidental eye contact and people think they’re dating… Same irrelevant energy.In Red Velvet’s Guerilla Date interview, Irene stated, “I just enjoy being here like this with the 5 of us, I always feel so reassured and thankful for them” She constantly emphasizes how she feels or always lets Reveluvs know how the members feel sometimes.Irene takes on the selfless, caring role for the group. No matter what you may think of her, her countless actions speak for themselves and she is a great leader who worries about them nonstop. There are few idols who actually embody the stereotypical “motherly K-pop leader” as it’s even present in parts of her personality as well.Avoids crying in front of the members or the camera. She believes that in her duty as a leader, it brings down the morale of the members and fans and things may fall apart. Seulgi said she does it by herself privately.Only occasionally tells people her problems, she feels like she doesn’t want to burden others or the members.Yup, the overused reveluv classic. When Yeri debuted, she took care of Yeri as a mother figure, and even Joy at times. She ironed their laundry sometimes, cooked for them, Irene paid for the remainder of Yeri’s trainee bills too. You’ve probably heard that before so many times, next…Irene often buys gifts for others (members, family, friends, close co-workers, etc) for the purpose of gratitude, occasions, randomly, or simply just to spoil someone. However, she often forgets about spending for herself. If the members want something, she’ll pull out her black card and spoil them!On Level Up, she bought gifts for all 4 members and even Yeri’s siblings but she forgot to get something for herself.When they ask for food or presents, Irene buys them instantly. She’s been like this and Irene orders stuff in less than a few hours after seeing in the group chat. Yeri’s gaming peripherals and some of Seulgi’s accessories are a few examples.Irene is surprisingly one of the most chaotic members when she’s having fun with the members, despite seeming quiet to most. Honestly if you actually look into Red Velvet’s content Irene is actually so playful and competitive… She likes to crack jokes sometimes, is very reactive, and has the reflexes of a superhuman!Scared easily and is hypersensitive to movement and sounds. Loudest screams in Red Velvet, nicknamed the “Dolphin Screamer.”The leader Irene often cooks for RV and accompanies the other members to their schedules. She’s the one who always holds on to their documents, passports, and sometimes packs their bags for schedules. For example, Wendy was busy with solo schedules and stated that she really needs to go home and pack up, but Irene stated that she already helped her out with that.She’s competitive when it comes to playing games on variety and shows great energy. There, her maknae behavior unleashes and she was even called the “false maknae” in the first years of her career due to her looks. Also, her favorite thing to show on variety is her extreme flexibility.She often takes notes down if she wants to organize or thoughts or remember important things on notes or her phone. For example, she stated that when a member says something like “Hmm, I really want that _______,” she writes it down so she can remember. Irene is the best at planning and remembering dates also because she is the leader. There’s a lot of good memories even Seulgi can’t recall but Irene can because she’s always on top of everything and organized.She likes to please Reveluvs even if she has to risk something. For example:Invited Reveluvs to sing for Wendy and Seulgi’s birthdays (prohibited?)Irene always takes her time with Reveluvs when meeting them in real life, especially in fanmeets (shown in tweet below).She likes sneaking letters when the manager isn’t looking and holds onto items that fans give her and actually uses them. A good example is the purple baggy-keychain that Reveluvs know.Red Velvet and Irene are weirded out how Reveluvs have to pay for some minor content so they’ve posted leaked content, even photocards, etc.Some time back, there was a live where Irene was shocked that *the merch is unreasonably expensive* and said to the camera that she wouldn’t even pay for it even if she was a fan. She has a black card now but has the same humble mentality with money as before.4 Times Red Velvet’s Irene Ignored Her Company’s Rules To Make Everyone Happyyeah when irene was holding my hand, the staff were trying to move me on so i tried to pull away but she didn't let go 🥺 she just kept holding my hand for a little while longer... truly the loveliest girl in the world i cherish her so much— 🐰💬 (@reveluxe) June 28, 2019Red Velvet has a weakness for kids but especially kid Reveluvs!A mom of a lucky fan has told Reveluvs that they very much enjoyed her time at a theme park with Red Velvet but especially Irene. Irene said “We’ll take care of her from here okay?” Irene was constantly tending to the young fan throughout the time, asking what she wants to eat, what she wants to ride, what she wants to do, and trying to make jokes although Irene isn’t the funniest member. Joy tried her best to entertain the kid after Irene seemed to be tired. Near the end of their time together, Irene offered the fan if she wanted to ride anything even if she wanted to ride the scary ones, and the scaredy-cat Irene did so.…Irene has an amazing sense of gratitude and she always buys the staff she appreciates gifts or handwrites personal letters to each one yearly.Contrary to her outward intimidating appearance, she is someone you need to get to know gradually and she will treat you well. She’s very close with her longtime makeup artists and hair salon team! They’re often on her Instagram. Also, some of the SM staff she personally knows has been there for her since debut. Some dancers have shown love, the very-close-to-RV Level Up staff want to see her back on their show again, and the whole Monster team has shown love recently too. She is very thankful for those that give her the ability to be an idol as she is also close with some of them!“During the year-end season, she writes a handwritten letter for all her staff, even for the youngest staffs she takes care of them with gifts~ She's a celebrity that knows how to show her thanks~ I know gifts aren't everything but it’s because she is usually good with us.” - Red Velvet and Irene’s MUA teamOther staff like dancers, people at SM, and hair/makeup artists all have a common theme confirming this. They all state that Irene goes out of her way to write personal handwritten letters thanking all of her staff, young and old.Before we get into it, I’d like to remind you again that Irene is loyal and the type to have a closer, smaller circle. She’s talked about trust issues in some interviews as well too but in one interview she mentions a childhood friend of hers. Irene’s “Purple Friend” on her youtube Eye Contact vlog has been one of her dearest friends since Irene was a kid and she helped Irene to become a bit more outgoing. Fun fact: Irene’s favorite color being purple is due to this friend’s obsession with purple.Going back to her close staff… she isn’t just grateful but is also caring to them. Irene frequently offers them to go home early during schedules. Like I said before, she bought her dancer crew vitamins and medicine to stay healthy during tours! During La Rogue, she even bought them full sets of warm pajamas and slippers for their stay at hotels.As shown above, Irene treats her close friends well. Like in my “Personality” section of this article, they too admit that she does appear cold and shy, but takes time to know and shows gratitude and warmth very calmly, while not expressing herself too much…This person states that Irene shows her advice and listens to all of her secrets, feelings, and rants.-One day she visited my shop & said she came to say hi as she was passing by. She sat beside me & we talked and left. On the way home, I put my hand in my pocket and there was a card in my jacket pockets. She had given me a card with Irene-like content, in an Irene-like method-— TODAY IS WENDY (@flowerene329) October 23, 2020As I’ve said, Red Velvet and Irene are good friends with their permanent makeup/hair stylists and SM staff, and some have been with them since debut! They are one of the few who know what it’s like to get close to Irene other than the members and have formed close relationships. For example, one of Irene’s staff members was pregnant and Irene was always checking up on her, offering her to go home early, trying to help her, and telling her to rest. And recently this…..the $1,200 baby stroller ‘auntie irene’ bought recently for one of her best friends, irene best girl 🥺 pic.twitter.com/Rtl7BobBm5— 🖤✨ (@jenniesrene) January 11, 2021To sum it up, Irene sports a quiet, mysterious, yet polite outward appearance with most people from fans, to fellow idols, to staff, to hosts. Everyone young and old. Among the members in Red Velvet, she known to have good manners and is a big honorific stickler.Irene is a boomer. She tried to do the Instagram model “put the product on hand thing” but she did the put hand over product thing… I feel bad that I laughed at her. She also only recently learned how to shop online… She’s 30!Also… No, Irene doesn’t hate men. It's just a popular Reveluv meme!(Honestly, I think she’s awkward with everyone and her social skills are questionable sometimes)…Irene and Red Velvet have a love for the Level Up staff and they always get excited when they see each other in Korea again. Irene has willingly bought them stuff during their trips and likes to feed the Level Up crew by hand (yes, even the dudes) and Wendy has reunited with them a few times.She nearly cried at the end of a season because she grew so close to them and enjoyed the trip but the season ended quickly. These amazing staff share a lot of Red Velvet and Irene pictures from time to time, even nowadays too. Reveluvs love these people. For those who don’t watch Red Velvet, Level Up is a variety where they travel to a destination and do challenges while exploring other countries. It’s very fun to watch and the members LOVE IT. All of the staff are so sweet and always praise Red Velvet… the 5 seem so comfortable and let their personalities show a lot! I recommend season 2 and 3.Red Velvet and Irene are admirable and they help the country out!!They cater to the youth, teenagers, and the adults in their diverse music.They have spoke on and participated in matters like equality, anti bullying, anti school violence, mental health, feminism, animals, social issues, and the importance of education and school. Irene, Seulgi, and Joy are doing a campaign for breast cancer awareness. They have done their part for the country.Irene has been reported to take out 100 million won out of her own pocket to donate to COVID19 equipment and research and has been a figure in COVID19 education in Korea and Time Magazine World along with Seulgi.They are one of the first girl groups to perform in North Korea, and with barely the guidance of any staff, Irene led the members the whole way while they were worried.Recently, they have worked with the UN for promoting “Clean Air For All” across the continent.If you’re a fan, you can greet her in public. Anything from a smirk and a wave to a picture, she’ll say what’s up!in a prev. fansign, a fan had asked irene to wish they do well on their tests when she signed, and when they told her they now have scholarships because of that she got a really proud look on her face and said “you’re the best!” and gave them a high five 😭 irene is our mom💖 pic.twitter.com/qlJ4JogvUQ— 👻 (@ultseul) August 10, 2018…Doyoung, one of the sweetest boys from NCT, said that Irene is a caring person but he had a misconception she was intimidating in his trainee years because of her harsh accent and she seemed cold/shy. Irene had a practice room that she reserved for her and rarely another member. However other people and trainees dubbed it “Irene’s room” because they were scared to enter. Doyoung got shy and apologized to her but Irene laughed and said “Why are you apologizing? It’s true haha.”Irene cares for her younger group NCT and looks proudly over them during award shows. She loves Chewing Gum!Irene and Doyoung are friends. She gave Doyoung these acupressure slippers, which are great for his recovery after some hard NCT choreography.Irene got food for all of her children of NCT during one of their schedules… Johnny likes it!Irene was actually disgusted when she was told to comment on the husbands in the show who neglect their wife and kids in a variety show, who degraded their wives to “gender roles.” While most would frown at this also, she is rumored to be a feminist by the way. Footage of her using her REAL resting b**ch face:They are big role models to girls in South Korea, as the fanbase is mostly girls supporting girls. This is the energy we need more in society. Irene leads the group strongly, even more as a feminist icon, and sometimes even blatantly representing it.“Seulrene” is one of the most official ships. They’re spotted together in public 24/7 (exaggeration but you get the point). Seulgi has stated that she only has brothers and if she had a sister, she would LOVE Irene to be her sister. Seulgi and Irene are the oldest members and almost see each other as equals despite their three year age difference. Seulgi is the closest to her and Irene is always thinking about her when they are separated.I know this is off camera but on camera… she’s extremely beautiful, perfect K-beauty face but strikingly cold. Also talented as a visual and leader, main Rapper, 2nd best dancer, and a slightly above average K-pop vocalist…^ Like I said, she loves to have fun when people initiate it with her. Jennie is also an ice queen like Irene. People cannot stand beautiful women having a relaxed “rbf” expression. Also, peep Joy balancing the ice queen energy in the photo up there…Jennie approached Irene when they were at the same salon and they quickly became friends. They’re great friends and they’ve argued back and forth about who pays the bill when they chatted at a restaurant in LA. Irene, having great manners offered to pay since she’s older but Jennie was very persistent that she ended up paying for the bill. Imagine two people being so kind that they argue over who’s going to be nice and treat the other??? Also, peep Joy balancing the ice queen energy in the photo up there…They say the radiant Joy is the furthest from Irene. Okay so tell me when comfortable skin-ship, giving each other advice, having a long conversation, and encouraging each other to be better is “far.” I’ve seen Joy kiss Irene on her forehead and cheek and Irene just laughs and jokes around with her. Irene is sensitive but lets Joy tease her a lot even though she’s older. They are so close and if this is “far,” then I myself don’t have any actual friends. Great relationship.Red Velvet has a great bond. They don’t need to excessively try hard to be funny and loud. However, they may be a bit too chill for some, I understand. Red Velvet’s funny and chaotic moments just come out whenever the members feel like it and it gets me every time. They the same brain cell, are comfortable and know everything about each other, etc. They’re not afraid to get weird, burp lmao, be outspoken, say dirty things, being savage, speak their mind, and be themselves. They’re comfortable criticizing each other too. The words they speak about each other and their interviews so are in-depth too. These 5 introverts are actually one of the tighter groups I’ve seen in a while.Judging from countless fan taken and saesang content in public I’ve got ahold of throughout the years, they’re still always messing around with each other (Joy, Yeri), comfortably getting very physical, going out to eat, spotted doing grocery errands with each other, Yeri is putting Irene in a chokehold for fun, SeulYerene go out as a trio very often to groceries or eat out, Wenjoy go on dates, and Seulrene are spotted together very often. They actually enjoy each other’s company on and off-camera.If you think about it, Wendy is the only member that Irene can fully trust to handle the members. Wendy is the backup mother of the group, always tending to the members and controlling the energy. Irene has trusted Wendy to be the spokesperson when she was in 2014–2016 eras with a Daegu accent and shyer before.After Wendy’s hospitalization in December, Irene almost couldn’t contain herself while Wendy’s video message aired when she was a host. If I were to count the amount of times Irene tried to hold in tears as much as times she cried, she would probably cry the most as the leader. She always holds it in to keep the group’s energy stable.She doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice things if her members are in the question. She is self-less. Fun Fact: Irene stayed with Wendy for hours past midnight to practice her debut “Shine on Me” high note during Happiness, their first appearance on stage.Irene always covers the members with blankets when they have shorts or dresses. She never forgets that, ever. Sometimes the members forget themselves but Irene has those instincts to save them!Irene likes men… preferably gentlemen.Jackson (the handsome one) blocked San E from Irene when San E was pointing at Irene while vulgar lyrics of the song were playing. Irene liked that gesture and had fun with him.Again, Irene really likes SHINee and is comfortable with these “gentlemen” as they’re the closest boy group to RV.Key, also from Daegu like Irene helped Irene be more comfortable and played with her a little bit. Irene feels very comfortable with him and I’ve seen Irene let her accent come out a little bit too. They are also the same age! The current father of Red Velvet and a better promoter of Red Velvet than SM, as said by some Reveluvs. Here’s Key swinging a fish at Irene.. Minho was also very good to them! He can be seen messing around with both Seulgi and Joy on multiple occasions. I’m not sure about Onew and Taemin but Taemin has a good amount of interactions.Who brought out Irene’s weird and fun side and brought up Yeri along with her?Jonghyun was a great factor developing Red Velvet as people and made Red Velvet feel so loved. He spoke of our group and Irene very highly. He was one of Irene’s favorites too!Irene was shy, both on and off camera, but he constantly brought out her weird side and he easily made her laugh. One of the first men to actually get close, a gentleman.I thought they were close back then as a shawol. Irene in her rookie years is often seen looking at him in stages, mimicked his movements and speech mannerisms pretty often, likes his humor, and seemed very comfortable with him overall.Both raised a 15 year old YeriYeri speaks on social issues very openly, just like Jonghyun did.On Knowing Bros, they hit on Irene but Jonghyun stated that its obvious Irene is beautiful but she has a beautiful voice.The “One of These Nights” choreography is unexpected because it’s a ballad. Irene’s arm motion above her head is a unique arm motion that Jonghyun always did when messing around with her. I have a theory that the choreography was made on the spot. Just me thinking too much maybe… Irene during times in 2016–2017 also made the same borrowed some of his signature humor and the same exact weird sounds he makes when messing around.Off-topic but here’s a story for Reveluvs and Shawols… Irene and Jonghyun’s impact on Yeri: Yeri came into Red Velvet in 2015, and it was controversial. Way too much too handle for a minor around the age of 16. Irene had her responsibility to take care of her and even paying Yeri’s bills. However, Jonghyun was aware of the hate and took care of her too, establishing a strong big brother role. He always assured her that Yeri was beautiful and would grow into a fine woman. Yeri’s smile in the picture above is so wide! He was so overprotective of her, always teasing her, messing around, being touchy, pulling her hair as a joke, and taking selfies. She always complimented Jonghyun’s passion for music, his talent, and in present-day she always compliments Wendy the same way now. His legendary songwriting career inspired her hobby to write poetry, lyrics, and maybe produce music. IU helped her a few times and she finally made her song Dear Diary which a lyric reads “I hope you rest well in a dreamless slumber.” She loves him dearly and will never forget the greatness he brought. Yeri is so mature as a person and beautiful now thanks to both of their impact. Both groups radiate family-like chemistry which I adore.Irene holds the 5 all together, and if she feels bad or cries, the whole group goes down with her. She holds in her tears but when Irene cries, oh my…….. You can tell she’s holding it in when she’s shaking and stuttering a lot sometimes when she tears up.This next part is very rare:*Irene actually crying for once* Irene is crying here because all she can think about is her mom when all of her activities are over. She says she used to get annoyed by her mom nagging and yelling at her but NOW SHE LOVES THAT. Irene would do anything to get yelled at by her mom. She says she would do anything just to go to the grocery market or take a walk with her mom more often. When Irene is all by herself, she cries in a room furthest from the members. She does this to keep the energy of the group stable.Seulgi is me right now writing this lmaoIf you see her personality from 2015 to 2020. She is so improved that these “boring personality” rumors are mostly not true anymore. She is more outspoken and Irene is so loud and playful, in addition to her chill vibe.“I’ll keep this memory for all of eternity. A memory of these four kids I treasure the most.” - IreneAlso Irene confirming she is both the boomer and true leader of the group haha4.)After seeing this, I hope you can gain more insight into Irene.Honestly, I’d love it for more people and people of other fanbases to know the real Irene since people don’t know her and have judged her knowing only her blank “rbf” face or not knowing much about Red Velvet at all.I hope you enjoyed my Red Velvet propaganda!Irene is very sweet and occasionally very chaotic which people may not know.Edit: As some may know, speaking of staff recently….Recent edit: As of the controversy involving her harsh actions In October… people in the double digits ranging from SM staff, co-workers, past magazine staff, ot5 stylists, some backup dancers, lots of Level Up staff, Double Patty staff, choreographers, their permanent makeup and hair salon staff, and even staff who are in other countries or staff who don’t work with Irene anymore had nothing but positive words or their experiences to say to defend her. She then released 3–4 apologies.Say what you want, but if Irene bullied one staff and didn’t treat a couple or few staff correctly and she has a lesser reputation now, the positives throughout her career still hold weight. I predict she may be a “choosy” type of person because like I’ve shown in this article, she is good with her close-friend staff and they have always talked about her on their social media, but if she mistreated some other staff then she needs to learn how to treat everyone fairly. That “pick and choose” attitude is not okay, and she should treat everyone well, including people she doesn’t like. It should never go to the extent of bullying and verbal abuse.However, you can think for yourself, and I cannot defend her actions as they were pretty bad. She still needs to improve herself and not repeat it again of course.thread of posts from today by staff defending irene— TODAY IS WENDY (@flowerene329) October 23, 2020MY HONEST THOUGHTS ON IRENE RECENTLYI was disappointed as before I used to have high expectations of Irene as shown in this article. When the news came, I had mixed feelings. My RV bias was Seulrene before but nowadays Irene is the 4th member I like most (was 2nd before) after Wendy. I think the general public’s view of her has lowered of course. One thing that also irks me is that we probably could’ve had a full comeback earlier with Wendy if it didn’t happen but someoneee like her had to have such great timing. It was planned in December but it’s been pushed back, so much that we surpassed BP’s hiatus record. Anyways, I’m a crazy Reveluv who has researched Red Velvet to the ends of this earth, even looking at legit saesang fantaken stuff like a weirdo, heard stuff from actual insiders, and I’m loyal since I know all the good and bad of her career since 2014–2020… That’s why I still stan her. Honestly, I don’t know how to describe where I stand, but I hope you can respect my view at least.In some case that Red Velvet falls soon, I can’t help but think that Irene’s recent actions were a cause of their downfall. I’m a MeU and have experienced disbandment with other groups, and there’s no reason for Red Velvet to fall due to their massive success but if it does happen, then wow Irene you messed up bad. That’s a weird thought I just have.Some Reveluvs have a problem of either defending or downplaying her actions, but for me, I know she messed up bad. Now I’m simply just looking for improvement in Red Velvet’s name as a group and improvement in her to not repeat that again. I hope she will be the last problematic idol I will still stan. Finally, I just want to see *OT5 Red Velvet* come back. I’ve planned to spend my last years in K-pop with them and my other ult groups.That’s just me.A lot of non-reveluvs and casual stans who were very against her have DM’ed me with the overall vibe of “ehhh after reading this I’ll give her a little chance for now I guess but Irene’s still whatever to me.”Update:Irene is probably reacting to the massive criticism. It’s evident in her recent appearances and both Reveluvs and the media are noticing.…Weird fake and forced smile. Her resting face is usually RBF naturally, but she’s aware of the criticism of her rbf now and is forcing herself to smile more.The unusual higher tone of voice. Irene has a relaxed monotone voice but now she sounds awkward and is using a weird pitch accent. Guess she’s trying to sound friendlier??In her, first few appearances from the scandal, her eyes are completely dilated all the time and she looks scary. Keeps spacing out and Irene could’ve been holding the world record for not blinking lmao… Scandal hit her hard huhTwitching and awkward fidgeting with hands during appearances…I expect her to be shaken up, but at least she knows and hopefully improves.Well, OT5 returned so keep your head up alright?Let’s anticipate that upcoming Red Velvet comeback well!… and Wendy’s solo!Disclaimer:Other than slight edits here and there, please remember I first published this post before the incident. It’s been pinned on my profile even before the incident as an innocent “All About Irene” article but now I’ve added the scandal into it.Irene once said…“There are times when you feel disappointed, angry, or annoyed… and while liking Red Velvet, there are moments where you are irritated and bothered, right? When that happens, do the things you like, resolve your problems, relax, and come back to Red Velvet whenever you want to.” - Irene