America's Offer to France to Destroy Vietnam with an Atomic Bomb
On April 30, 1954, during the height of the Vietnam War, the United States National Security Council considered the idea of using atomic bombs to aid their ally France. France, which had failed in its efforts to colonize and dominate Vietnam, requested urgent aid from the United States. USA, II. He had been busy in Indochina since the end of World War II, supporting France's war effort from 1950. This support was mainly logistical. Hundreds of aircraft, tanks and vehicles and thousands of tons of ammunition were given to the French, and American advisors oversaw many French attacks and massacres. By 1954, approximately 80% of France's war expenses were covered by the US government and the US Air Force. Frustrated by the Vietnamese people's anti-colonial resistance and struggle for independence, French military and diplomats repeatedly voiced demands for direct intervention from America. In a plan discussed on 20 March 1954 and later called "Operation Condor", 60 to 98 U.S. Air Force B-29 bombers and more than 100 American carrier-borne seaplane escorts would bomb Vietnamese positions. However, recently released documents show that the idea of dropping three atomic bombs on the Vietnamese people was also considered as part of Operation Vulture. French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault claimed that at a meeting in Paris on April 22, 1954, his American counterpart John Foster Dulles offered him the use of two atomic bombs to "solve" the Vietnam problem. Bidault also admitted that he rejected the offer, but did so out of concern that Vietnamese insurgents were very close to French bases at the time and that atomic bombs might kill the French as well. Secretary of State Dulles later flatly denied making any such offer. However, the documents show that there were discussions in the White House about both the use of atomic weapons and their delivery to the French. On April 29, the US National Security Council discussed the issue for four hours and concluded on April 30 that "we might have to give them some bombs." But President Eisenhower was reluctant to intervene directly without the support of his allies or Congress. By May, there was no longer any use in using atomic bombs in Vietnam. Because after more than 2,000 French soldiers died and more than 10,000 were injured, France suffered a heavy defeat and saw the collapse of its colonial empire. This situation did not go unnoticed by American patrons. With the defeat of France, the United States decided to enter the region with a different plan and demonstrate its military might against the Vietnamese and other powers, as well as advancing its own goals. This led to the Vietnam War and America's shameful defeat in that war.
