Walk Like an Egyptian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWP-AsG5DRk

Egypt gets hot

“Oh, yes, of course,” Nick said quickly. Bes squinted at them for a moment, then turned on his heel.

“Please follow me,” he said, as he led the way quickly through the halls of towering colums and brightly colored murals. His bare feet were silent on the stone floors. Nick followed after him, trying to look at everything at once. To his left he saw a giant statue of a golden cat. A few rooms later, he saw a group of boys about his age playing something that looked oddly like checkers. Valerine lingered there so long trying to watch that Nick had to grab her hand and drager her away. At last, Bes drew aside a curtain and pointed into a smaller room.

“Here is your chamber. The slaves will see to it that you have appropriate attire for your meeting with the Phaoroh. If you need anything, you have only to ask.” With a bow, Bes left them in the hands of the slaves.

The room they found themselves in was much smaller than the pharoh’s throne room, but to Nick it seemed just as elaborate. There was a table covered with vials and delicate glass bottles in every color. Beside it was a piece of bronze polished until it could be used as a mirror. There were hooks and brushes and sticks that he could only begin to guess the uses for—just like in his mom’s makeup bag. Beside the table were several low chairs placed perfectly to catch the gentle breeze coming in through the window.

Nick started over to one of the chairs, but one of the slaves, an old man, stepped forward. “My boy, surely you are roasting in your strange clothes. Come with me and we will find you something cooler. Perhaps in your land, the sun does not scorch so hot, but here in Eygpt, we say that the heat will swallow you if you try to ignore it.”

Valerie looked up from one of the many bottles of cosmetics, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “It will eat you?”

One of the women beside her laughed kindly. “You will be uncomfortable indeed with all those strange heavy clothes on, little one. Our clothing is better suited for our weather.” Valerie nodded, and tugged at the sleeve of her jacket.

“Well, I am getting really hot!” She said. She stopped for a moment to eye the linen gowns the women were wearing. There were very simple, long, white dresses that fluttered slightly in the breeze. Their arms and shoulders were bare, except for bracelets. To Valerie, the best part was the fabric, which was intricately pleated so that it flowed gracefully whenever the women moved.

“Can I have one, too?” She asked, pointing to their dresses. The women nodded, smiling.

“Of course! And perhaps your companion would also like to change his clothes?” the woman asked, glancing at Nick in his thick red sweatshirt.

“Oh, Nick’s probably hot, too! What does he get to wear?” Valerie asked, looking around the room. The old man went to a chest against the wall and pulled out what looked to Valirie like a very long t-shirt.

“What?” Nick said, taking a step back. “You want me to wear a dress? Are you sure you aren’t just tring to pull a trick on me to send me to the feast in girls’ clothes?”

The old man clapped him in the shoulder. “Fear not, my boy, the pharoh himself often wears these tunics.”

The Cold War Turns Hot (Part Two)

Although tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began to increase the moment the Germans were defeated in 1945, the Cold War truly began with the North Korean communist party’s invasion of South Korea on 24 June 1950. The Korean peninsula had been under Japanese military occupation since 1910, but with Japan’s defeat in the Pacific War it was divided into halves by the Soviets in the north and the United States and Britain in the south. Predictably, the Soviet half was ruled by a ruthless Communist who fought with the Russians at Stalingrad, named Kim Il Sung, while the south under American control was ruled by an equally ruthless capitalist, Syngman Rhee. Both rulers sought to unify their country politically and economically under their respective political philosophies. Sung’s army was by far superior to Rhee’s; many of the North Korean officers were actually Chinese communist commanders fresh off of their defeat of Chiang kai-Shek’s Nationalists only several months earlier and eager to spread the revolution to all of Korea. The South was nowhere near as battle hardened; most of its leaders has spent their lives comfortably in the United States and instead relied heavily on American aid. North Korea not only possessed the advantage in military experience over its southern counterpart, it also was the recipient of the latest hardware from the Soviet Union, like the feared T-34 tank, regarded as one of the deadliest tanks of WWII. The south, by comparison, was ill equipped to wage a modern tank battle over a front as long as its border with the north, nor was it capable of matching with the revolutionary zeal of the Korean communists and their Chinese allies. None of this was lost on Truman and his advisors; as far as they were concerned, Korea was a lost cause politically and its territory had no strategic value on the military side. As we will see later on, the same assessment was later made of South Vietnam, and for the same reasons that Vietnam eventually became an American battlefield despite the prevailing wisdom advising a contrary course of action, so too did Americans go to fight in a land considered strategiacally unimportant. Why then, did they fight?

The answer is to be found in origin of the Second World War. The men of the Truman administration still vividly remembered how the failure to confront Hitler’s armed takeovers of small neighboring states led to a cataclysmic global war. Coming only five years after the end of WWII, Kim Il Sung’s invasion of the South appeared to represent a similar attempt by Communism, directed from Moscow, to take advantage of the West’s desire for peace and absorb its neighbors into a gigantic Communist empire. President Truman was determined not to have a repeat of appeasement under his watch, deciding instead to oppose what he and his advisors were sure was an attempt by Moscow and Beijing to take over Asia. The truth was something quite different; Rhee had himself repeatedly threatened to invade the North, so often that American officials decided its best policy was to limit Rhee’s access to advanced American weaponry, lest he be tempted to initiate a forceful unification of his own. On the Communist side, Soviet leader Josef Stalin was less than enthusiastic for Sung’s proposed invasion, telling Sung when he made a pilgrimage to Moscow that “if the Americans begin kicking your teeth in, I will not help you”(Stalin had a way with words). Stalin eventually authorized a secret air war against the Americans after US aircraft attacked (“accidentally”) a Soviet air base near the North Korean border, but eventually called a halt after having second thoughts about the potential consequences of direct involvement. Stalin was primarily concerned with rebuilding Soviet economic strength, not starting a war with the United States only five years after Russia’s devastating war against Germany.

China, however, was a different story; Mao put his fully support behind the Korean communists’ attempt to unify Korea and kick out the Americans. When McArthur pushed to far into North Korea, Mao sent Chinese troops into Korea to save the reeling communists from complete collapse, explaining at one point to Stalin that in order to keep the “American Invaders” from running rampant in the Far East (Asia), “We must be prepared for the US to declare and enter a state of war with China.” For Mao, American soldiers killing Korean communists right on the Chinese border posed a serious threat to the revolution he had just won in China after twenty some odd years of civil war. His former nemesis Chiang Kai-Shek enjoyed strong support by the Republican Party and continued to plot under American protection on the island of Formosa (now Taiwan, which is why Taiwan is not an official part of PDRC, it is/was the last stronghold of non-Communist China. In case you were wondering). Macarthur made no secret of his desire to take his army strait through Korea on into Beijing and put an end once and for all to Asian communism; Mao had only to read a newspaper to learn of this. The point of all this is not that Mao was valiantly defending his revolution from outside aggression, after all he supported the initial North Korean invasion that brought Macarthur to his doorstep, but rather to illustrate China’s considerable influence on the evolution of the Cold War. The early phases of the Cold War were actually very hot wars against primarily an Asian, not Russian, communist power: China.

America’s war in Korea set the tone for the next thirty years of the Cold War. Before the war, Truman’s requests for more defense spending met stiff resistance from an isolationist Congress, but after North Korea’s invasion, legislators essentially gave a blank check to cover any costs associated with defending the world from communism. The American defense budget skyrocketed to almost World War Two levels, never to return to its once humble percentage of American taxes. The American military state we recognize today had its origins in the Korean conflict. The war also alarmed the American public to the dangers, real and perceived, of the communist threat to the capitalist world, leading to an almost mass hysteria during the 1950s, most notably the communist persecutions of Senator Joe McCarthy and investigations into allegedly disloyal college professors across America. Most importantly for the purposes of explaining America’s eventual involvement in the Vietnam War, Korea greatly increased tensions between newly Communist China and the United States. The specter of Communist China spreading its roots throughout the fertile soil of decolonizing Asia continued to haunt American administrations well past the end of the Korean conflict in 1953, with terrible consequences for the people of Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia.

The End of the French in Indochina

After eight years of fighting a frustrating guerilla war to regain control of its old colony, France’s mission in Vietnam came to a humiliating end in 1954. Seeking to put an end to Vietminh incursions into neighboring Laos, also a French colony, as well as to cut the Vietminh off from their rice supply in the Dien Bien region of Vietnam, French military commanders placed a huge garrison of troops and a fortified compound at the bottom of a valley overlooked by high mountain peaks. Why the French chose to put their base there (militarily it is more desirable to control the high ground, not the low, where one is a sitting duck) is a bit of a mystery, although it has been said that they underestimated the enemy’s ability to get artillery through the rough jungle base of the mountains up to the top; unfortunately for the French, however, that is precisely what the Vietminh did. Over the course of several months, Vietnamese peasants and soldiers carried massive howitzer cannons and anti-aircraft guns, piece by piece, through the jungle and up the mountain, an impressive testament to what motivated team work can accomplish, assembling the guns at the top and camouflaging them with nets strewn with leaves and branches. Down below, fifteen thousand French military men, many of whom arrived fresh from France and were not really prepared to fight the grizzled veterans of the Vietminh, waited for the battle to begin. What ensued was a total bloodbath, lasting three months. The base at Dien Bien Phu had no direct access to supplies save for an airfield that the French commander in the field (well, actually he was safely directing the battle from an air conditioned HQ in Saigon), Henri Navarre, believed was out of the range of Vietminh artillery. It was not, and it was quickly destroyed, making it virtually impossible for the French garrison to receive badly needed supplies or evacuate the wounded. After three months of slaughter, the garrison surrendered, and France bid its old colony farewell.

The great tragedy of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, one that was to be repeated in later years as the United States became embroiled in Vietnam, was that it was fought with the knowledge that there was no real chance to defeat the Vietminh militarily. Indeed, the point of the battle from the French perspective was not to achieve a decisive victory over Ho Chi Minh, which most military analysts ruled out as unrealistic, but rather to inflict enough damage to pave the way for an “honorable” settlement in Vietnam and allow the French to save face and sneak out the back door. The term “peace with honor” made a comeback later on in the Johnson and Nixon years when it was equally clear that a military solution to the Vietnam War was not possible, with tragic consequences. That awful word “honor,” the refuge of men too weak to come to a peaceful solution, has killed a lot of people throughout history, as it will doubtlessly continue to do in wars of the future.

Unfortunately, Vietnam’s war for independence did not end with the fall of Dien Bien Phu, as it should have. Ho’s victory did not mean much militarily or economically for the capitalist West; Vietnam was a rural and extremely poor country, with very little significance on the grand chessboard of geopolitics. While the majority of Ho’s forces, and obviously Ho himself, were Communists, their deepest passions were defined by nationalism, the desire to see their fatherland free of foreign domination, from the French or any other country. They had no interest in the international struggle of workers or in spreading Communism across the globe.

The French defeat should have signaled to the Americans that fighting to deny the Vietnamese independence was a lost cause, both practically and morally. Events in Vietnam, however, were not taking place in a vacuum; they must be viewed through the larger scope of geopolitics in the early 1950s. The perception at the time in the eyes of many was that the Vietnamese war for independence was part of a monolithic Communist movement spreading throughout Asia, directed from Moscow, and it had to stopped before it advanced any further.

A snippet

As soon as they spoke the words, the air seemed to shimmer and the messy office faded away. Instead, they saw a huge wall covered in colorful symbols. As the scene came into focus, Nick held up the book and saw that it was the same wall from the picture. There was the column with the professor’s note scratched into it. The room was empty except for the giant black cat, curled on the golden throne. She opened one eye lazily to look at them.

“Nick, it worked!” Valerie said excitedly. Her laughter echoed in the empty room.

“Shhh, hang on a second Val. We should be careful. We don’t know if the people here are friendly. After all, the professor did ask for help!” Nick told her in a whisper.

Just as he said this, they heard the clatter of metal on marble and turned around. In the doorway behind them stood a boy about Nick’s age. He was wearing nothing but what looked like white skirt and a heavy gold bracelet around each wrist. At his feet were a golden tray and an overturned golden bowl. Figs rolled over the marble floor.

Without thinking, Valerie picked up a handful of figs and walked over to boy. She held the figs out with a smile. “You dropped these!”

For a long moment, the boy stood frozen, then he slowly bent down and picked up the bowl and the tray. Valerie dropped her figs in the bowl and bent down to pick up more.

“Thank you,” said the boy. “But who are you and why are you in the most sacred throne room?”

Valerie started to speak, but Nick shot her a glare that only a brother could give. She knew right away that he was thinking carefully about their answer.

“My name is Nick and this is my sister Valerie. We are travelers from very far away. We certainly didn’t mean to wander into the throne room. It was an accident.” Nick explained.

“Who are you?” Valerie chimed in. Nick sighed, with a smile. His little sister was always really friendly. Sometimes even when she should be staying quiet and letting him do the talking.

“My name is Bes. I am a cupbearer for the Pharoah.” He looked at Nick and Valerie. “It is one of my duties to escort visitors to see the Pharoah, but perhaps you would like to change into some more…appropriate clothing.”

“We are going to meet the Pharoah?” Nick asked.

Bes looked at him, confused. “Well of course. Is that not why you traveled here from your far away land?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Nick said quickly.

The Cold War Turns Hot (Part One)

For the first four years following World War Two, the vast numerical superiority of the Red Army still occupying large parts of central and Eastern Europe was balanced by the hitherto American monopoly on atomic weapons. On 3 September 1949 an American long-range reconnaissance plane taking air samples in the stratosphere detected an unusually high level of radiation near the eastern edge of the Soviet Union. Two days later, another recon plane detected an even larger amount and followed the trail towards Kazakhstan in central Asia. A panel of nuclear specialists in Washington analyzed the collected data and arrived at a startling conclusion—sometime between 26 and 29 August the Soviets successfully detonated a nuclear weapon. A few nights after the discovery, President Truman announced to that the Soviets had detonated an atomic device (he was careful not to say the word “bomb”)—Americans were stunned; they were assured that the Soviets would not have nuclear weapons any time soon. The Army told president Truman the Soviets would not have a bomb until 1960, while the Navy estimated 1965. With the help of well-placed spies though, Russian scientists were able to make a bomb closer to the Air Force’s estimate of 1952. Once the Soviets developed the capability to deliver nuclear weapons too, the strategic situation of the United States and Western Europe became greatly complicated. After WW II, the Soviet Union was exhausted by war with Germany and in desperate need of rebuilding; the last thing Stalin wanted was another war with the capitalists. Armed with the bomb, however, and began to take Stalin a more aggressive posture towards the West and the Cold War took on an increasingly menacing character. America’s confidence born of nuclear superiority was gone, replaced by a more humble awareness that the enemy could just as easily prevail as not in the coming struggle. In the indelicate words of American strategic air commander Curtis LaMay, “the era when we might have destroyed Russia completely and not even skinned our elbows in doing it,” was over.

Soviet entry into the nuclear club was not the only shock for the West in late 1949; events in Asia began to take an ominous turn as well. After more than twenty years of civil war, Mao Tse-tung’s Chinese communists finally overcame the Chinese nationalist forces of General Chiang Kai-shek, forcing the latter to flee the Chinese mainland in October. The same month Mao declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China in its new capital, Beijing. Back in the United States, the so-called “fall of China” to the Communists had severe political and psychological repercussions. The Republican Party, out of power for what seemed like an eternity with little prospect of returning, immediately seized on the opportunity to attack the administration of Democratic president Harry Truman, accusing him of “losing” China to the Communists. An open and friendly China had long been the goal of American business leaders and foreign policy makers (often one and the same), indeed, president Roosevelt hoped China would help lead the post-war world as one of the “Four Policemen” (the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union were the other proposed constables).

Vietnam and France during World War Two

Vietnam had been governed as a French colony since 1883, although French missionaries and traders had been active in Indochina since the seventeenth century. By 1900 it seemed as if Vietnam was destined (doomed?) to be a permanent fixture in France’s empire. Fifty-four years later, little longer than a generation, the French were forced to pack their bags and leave Vietnam to be governed by the Vietnamese people. France’s departure, however, was only the beginning of an ordeal for the Vietnamese that would last another twenty years and claim millions of lives. Vietnam’s struggle for independence began in earnest with events half a planet away. In a strange historical twist, Vietnam owed its independence almost as mush to Adolph Hitler as it did to Ho Chi Minh.

France’s crushing defeat at the hands of the Germans in 1940 removed all hope for French imperialists seeking to hold on to Indochina. The fall of Paris to the German army had two consequences that precluded a French return to power. First, it meant that the French could not spare the men or material to continue battling Vietnamese nationalists, as they were needed in the losing effort against Hitler. Second, right-wing French politicians struck a deal with the Nazis and were allowed to govern France, becoming the infamous Vichy government. In effect, the creation of the Vichy government meant France was henceforth allied with the Axis powers, including Japan. Seeking to build its own Asian empire, at the expense of the European colonial powers, Japan’s army quickly spread from its base in occupied China down into Vietnam. The Japanese occupation was far more brutal than that of the French, and any resistance was ruthlessly suppressed. Aiding the Japanese occupation was the Vichy colonial administration, which vainly sought to maintain French business interests and influence in Vietnam. The fact that the French actively aided and abetted the Japanese rape of Vietnam destroyed what little credibility remained of France’s claim to be a benefactor of the Vietnamese people; for most Vietnamese, Vichy support for the Japanese was unforgivable. After witnessing such a betrayal, it became clear to Vietnamese nationalists that France would do anything to hold on to its colony, and that to kick the French out once and for all, they most likely have to have to wage open warfare against their colonial overlords. Before doing so, however, they had to bide their time and build their strength.

On 15 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the United States and World War Two came to an end. Two weeks later, Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese nationalist army, the Vietminh, occupied Hanoi in the north of Vietnam, declaring Vietnamese independence shortly afterwards. In the south of Vietnam, Japanese forces surrendered to Great Britain, and control of the south was promptly returned to the French. Despite Ho’s declaration of Vietnamese independence, French colonial authorities set about re-establishing control over Vietnam, despite the very real occupation of Hanoi by the Vietminh. France would soon discover that a return to the prewar status quo was out of the question as far as the Vietnamese nationalist were concerned, although it would take a few years of political maneuvering between Ho and the French before open warfare broke out. When fighting finally broke out in 1950, it began twenty-five years of near ceaseless strife and brutality for the Vietnamese people and their would-be occupiers. How did the United States become involved in France’s struggle to maintain its empire? To understand that, one must examine the changing geopolitical circumstances of Asia in the period 1949-1954.

Next Chapter: The fall of the French Fortress at Dien Bien Phu and the beginning of the American phase.