Today we cover Operation X, the French’s narco-counterinsurgency program during the First Indochina War, a program that would be refined later by the CIA and Edward Lansdale. Under this operation, the French, under Major Roger Trinquier, contracted the Hmong people to fight on their behalf, future allies of the CIA.
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SOURCES:
[1] Christopher Goscha, The Road to Dien Bien Phu (p. 36-40)
[2] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (p. 135, 156-157)
[2] Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press (p.241)
[3] Christopher Goscha, The Road to Dien Bien Phu (p. 11-13)
[4] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (p. 131-132)
[5] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (p. 54-55)
[6] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (Operation X p. 132-139) (Binh Xuyen 157-159)
[6] Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press (p.241-242)
[6] The Great Heroin Coup, Henrik Kruger (p. 132)
[6] Peter Dale Scott, The War Conspiracy (p. 276-277)
[7] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (p.139-142)
[7] Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press (p.241-242)
[7] Frederic C. Benson, Genesis of the Hmong-American Alliance, 1949-1962 (p.8-10) https://www.hmongstudiesjournal.org/uploads/4/5/8/7/4587788/bensonhsj16.pdf
[8] Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Viet-Nam https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/inch001.asp
[8] Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Laos
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/inch004.asp#:~:text=(a)%20Taking%20into%20account%20the,local%20time%20on%206%20August
[8] The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War (p.14-20)
[9]The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War (p.22-26)
[10]https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/research/pentagon-papers/Pentagon-Papers-Part-V-B-3c.pdf (PDF p. 76-83)
[11] Alfred Mccoy, the Politics of Heroin (p. 138-139) (Trinquier letter p. 562-564)
[11] Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press (p.242)
source
Great work, so glad to see you covering Laos in such depth! I've thought for years about how my country made Laos the most bombed country on Earth and nobody even knows anything about it. I feel like this series pairs really well with the most recent series of the Blowback podcast about Cambodia.
Nice
Great videos
British advertised the end of imperialism and the dawn of independence for these nations. Meanwhile they were ushering in a new era with the technique of private company occupation of those nations called imperialism.
01:57 the Cao Dai weren’t exactly allied with the French for that reason.
They were initially anti-French since the French sacked their temples in 1945, so the Cao Dai became more pro-Japanese in the hopes of the return of Prince Cuong De. They captured and imprisoned the French in Saigon during the Japanese coup in 1945, and joined forces with the National Unified Front (which included Trotskyists, Hoa Hao, and the Vanguard Youth). When the Brits came to occupy to Saigon, the Cao Dai formed an army division fighting alongside the Viet Minh.
But then the Cao Dai leader Tran Quang Vinh got imprisoned by the Viet Minh. After he escaped, he got captured by the French. After being tortured he agreed to make the Cao Dai neutral on the condition of the return of Pope Pham Cong Tac. Viet Minh commander Nguyen Binh decided to punish the Cao Dai by attacking Tay Ninh.
Edit: according to the historian François Guillemot, the French had uncovered a Viet Minh dossier in December 29, 1947.
It contained a logbook of about 1,000 death sentences for “reactionaries” from May-November, numerous amount of them being Hoa Hao and Cao Dai
Edit 2: just wanted to say very informative video, especially with Laos which often gets overshadowed by VN. Side note: with pronunciations, for Binh Xuyen the Xuyen sounds like “swean”.
Soviet artillery? Much of it was Japanese. The rest mainly 105mm, was American. It may have been supplied by the USSR, but was not produced by them.
Fantastic
Eisenhower wouldnt commit
American forces in 1954
To help.french at dienbienphu
He didnt want another korea
So it wasnt until 1961 that
Kennedy sent advisers in
Vast numbers by.then all
The french gcma left behind
In laos and north vietnam
Had been exterminated
Only.one made it out in
1958!
After WW2 the general USA view wast that colonial powers should alow their colonies to become independent democratc nations. This would create a new world order of free democratic nations led by the USA.
The 1st successful insurgent colony in the modern colonial Era was the USA against the UK
Amazing once again!! Keep up the great work 🙏
I dodged the Vietnam fiasco by linking one legal exemption to yet another. Instinctively, I knew the entire US involvement was a huge mistake and I had no intention of getting my arse blown off in faux patriotic service to a government gone awry. The more I learn about the whole affair through reading and excellent videos like this, the more convinced I become that I did exactly the right thing.
Exceptionally well researched. Great job!
there's only one i in kalashnikov
Please keep dropping videos. Damn. 💪🏾🇺🇲
Love seeing actual informative and entertaining videos showing the dark sides of overlooked wars like the french indochina war. You’re the only guy on YouTube i see posting well researched videos about the secrets of the cia without just becoming a conspiracy theory channel.
Are there any major issues with paul williams information that matter or is it minor details
It should be noted that French manpower problems were largely due to the prohibition of sending conscripts overseas, the war largely being fought by the Legion, Africans and Vietnamese
Boost
Amazing work! You are doing great job! 🙏
Ah, French Canadian… parfait. Yes, the Soviets provided weapons but they didn't get involved themselves like the US did, murdering more than 20 million people around the world, mostly civilians. They now have more than 800 military bases worldwide, 7000 nukes and every single war they were involved in since 1898, was based on lies. As to the Soviets…
Ha, ha, "I made a mistake in the next video", good one.
Excellent work.
Ah man, you are really good, fascinating stuff, thanks.
The corsicans shipped in tons of heroin to the Italians and then Italians sold it to the black people in Harlem. It was a massive operation. Italians ruined it according to corsicans. They got too greedy and started killing too much. Corsicans were strictly business.
I just got done reading "Operation Gladio", so that's a bummer to hear he got stuff wrong.
Excellent thanks.
as proven in afganistan – communism and socialism does not work in a feudalistic state. the structure is not there. Farmers and nomads are not workers in the same way the Russians pre revolution were. this is why communism fails in countries like vietnam, afghan and laos, not because america “won” if communism can’t exist outside of capitalism what does that tell you ?
37:53 is he growing gray at 22? damn he works hard.
wow you did a great job sir….💟
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